Not Built for Purpose: The Russian Military’s Ill-Fated Force Design - War on the Rocks

While I agree with the bad organizational design - I can't help wondered where Russia's modernized air force has been in this conflict. Seems that there is more to it than just poor logistics and structure - perhaps an inability to plan and strategize.

To me that's what sticks out in this conflict. It seems the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) is lacking the institutional capacity to plan, brief and fly complex air operations at scale. All these sorties are being flown out of Russia. There should be zero supply or organizational issues so what gives. My guess is their commanders have very little practical experience in how to plan, brief and coordinate complex air operations involving tens or hundreds of assets in a high-threat air environment as if they knew how to create and execute such a plan it should be a comparatively simple exercise for them to dominate the air space over Ukraine. And that is just air force executing part of it mission. What about conducting modern combined operations like ground support. They have flown thousands of sorties but for the most part the VKS fly sorties in pairs (maybe four) very low and at night. That's about as complex as air operations get.

This makes me question Russia's military leadership as a whole as this would suggest that Russian military top brass don't understand the importance of airpower in combat operations.

Two months in and the Russian air force is still fighting for control of the skies over Ukraine -

While their ground game looks busted its very telling in what we don't see in their air power as well.

More detail here than I have seen elsewhere