None of that airplanes, except perhaps a few very secret ones, is going to fight in Ukraine. As other comments explain, the important point is what air defense weapons can be sent.

That's not the point - if the United States is actively taking part in a war, which it is definitely not currently in Ukraine, we will have air superiority.

No, US did have air superiority, but not supremacy in Balkan operation.

Good, I'm glad you agree with me.

Not really. I meant that Balkan operation was nowhere even close in technological terms to the full-scale Russian invasion, supported by their most advanced air tech.

> ... despite a world-class air force’s best effort against a second-rate defense, the United States never gained air supremacy. High-value intelligence platforms such as the E-8 Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System were prohibited from flying over land where their sensors were most useful and instead had to stand off outside the threat region.

(c) https://warontherocks.com/2022/03/the-dangerous-allure-of-th...

So during the Balkan conflict, Serbia was able to send up fighters to challenge the NATO air fleets? Nope. They had to rely (and did an exceptional job) on their SAM systems and radars.

I'm not doubting USA air superiority in any plausible war, but it doesn't matter because what's needed is vastly different: reinforcing Ukrainian air defense, without sending planes to fight.

A military that cannot send stingers to allies, right now, is objectively not very capable; focusing on air superiority might be the best choice after all, but it cannot be an excuse for late stingers.