Is Russia's Air Force Falling Apart?

Russia's T-50. Wikimedia Commons

Business Insider: Russia's air force may be falling apart

On Thursday, Russia grounded it's entire fleet of Su-27s, believed to be more than 300 planes, after a jet from the Russian acrobatic team crashed and killed the pilot.

The latest incident follows a string of deadly accidents which continues to underscore Russia's military maintenance and modernization woes.

In March, Russia withdrew the majority of their best pilots from Syria even though they had "left some important military tasks unfinished," like encirclement of Aleppo, as Jeff White, a defense fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Business Insider previously .

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WNU Editor: There have been a number of Russian air accidents in the past year, and many of these jets are old. But is the Russian air force falling apart? My answer would be a yes and no. Yes .... that there are a number of planes that should not be flying. No .... there are still many other planes that are very effective, and if need be will be deployed. But like the U.S. with their F-35 program (and its problems) .... developing a modern jet fighter that works as promised .... and within budget .... is being proven to be very hard to do .... for Russia, as well as for everyone else.