>>63995003 (OP)Good question some possibly:
1) Russia has not just air superiority but effectively air supremacy in Ukraine outnumbering Ukrainian aircrafts 20 to 1.
However they struggle to use that to their advantage. Why?
Ukraine is filled with all sorts of anti air systems. Loads of them. So the attrition rate of using the Russian air force in it's full capacity would be unsustainable. The Russians just cannot replace planes fast enough to make up for the losses if they were to use their air force to their full potential and are forced to use their planes in very limited roles.
2) guerilla campaigns are hard to target by air in particular if mixed with civilians. There are only a few countries on the planet that are fine with being considered war criminal for killing 100 civilians to kill a couple of enemy combatants.
So having an amazing air force against an asimmetric enemy can be relatively pointless.
3) eliminate the enemy air force by any means necessary at the beginning of the conflict. The Israeli during the Israeli Arab wars decided to strike first and eliminate the more numerous enemy air forces before they could take to the skies and be a treath. This could be done both using a smaller air force and the element of surprise or by some sabotage operations.
Nowadays drones could be used too as seen in Ukraine.
4) get a powerful ally by offering them something good in return or by bribing/campaign contribute a good number of their politicians which can declare a "no fly zone" over the area that you are fighting with your enemies which could be enough to keep the enemy air force grounded since they don't want to risk the further involvement of the ally.
Any other ideas?
>>63995003 (OP)