Can NATO F-35 Prevent Russia's Invasion? US Sends F-35s to Baltic on Russian Border

The US European Air Force has now sent more 5th generation air power stealth jets to Russia's borders in the Baltics to help ensure that Putin does not consider further expansion beyond Ukraine into NATO territory.

A statement from the US Air Force Europe said the new F-35s were being delivered to Estonia and Lithuania in support of NATO Air Policing.

“The Royal Lakenheath Air Force 48th Fighter Wing deployed six F-35 aircraft to Amari Air Base, Estonia, and Siauliai Air Base, Lithuania, to continue to strengthen NATO's presence in the Baltic Sea region alongside the F-15E Strike Eagles currently deployed to the Baltic Sea.
Can the US Air Force and NATO's F-35 stop the Russian invasion by establishing air superiority and potentially destroying ground forces advancing from the air? There seems to be a clear possibility that it could.

The US Air Force alone operates about 300 F-35s, according to an interesting report last year in Air Force Magazine, and that is a force equipped with the amphibious-launched F-35B and carrier-launched F-35C. The US Navy's USS America, a single amphibious assault ship, has been deployed with as many as 15 F-35s on board.

Ground-based F-35s in the Baltic, combined with others that may be stationed in Poland, Germany or other parts of Eastern Europe, could be equipped with aircraft carrier-launched and amphibious F-35s from the Baltic or Black Seas.

Norway and the UK also have F-35s in service, and Poland, the Netherlands and Denmark have recently formed their respective F-35 forces. Essentially, NATO already has enough operational F-35s to scale down a massive multi-national force of 5th-generation stealth fighters enough to potentially overwhelm Russian air power. Global Firepower reports that the US alone operates 1,957 warplanes, compared to Russia's 772.

Even if the Russian Su-57 had comparable capabilities to the F-35, and there was no clear indication that it could, Russian planes would be massively outnumbered and outgunned by distant US and NATO F-35 forces. bigger. Not only does Russia operate less than half its fleet of fighter jets when compared to the US, but many reports in the Russian media say that Russia only has 12 5th Generation Su-57s and plans to acquire more than 70 in the coming years.

Several F-35 squadrons, scattered but networked across a wide area of ??operation, appear well-positioned to establish air superiority in the air war against Russia.

NATO's ability to "connect" to the F-35's multi-national force using the Multifunction Advanced Datalink (MADL) could greatly add to its airborne fleet size advantage as the F-35 can share surveillance and targeting data across multiple squadrons spread across the globe. wide terrain area.