There seems very little point in speculating about what potential difference a few 4th generation NATO aircraft could make when (i) there's zero sign that any will actually be delivered, and (ii) if any are delivered, they will arrive in tiny numbers and be nearly two years too late. Today the reality on the ground is that Russian aviation assets are quite frequently used to suppress Ukrainian ground forces, contrary to the assertion made early on in this article. This is because Ukraine's air defenses have been depleted over the duration of the conflict and the very small number of NATO anti-aircraft systems deployed don't compensate for the exhaustion of Ukraine's former capability. As a result, NATO armor is largely being held in reserve as presently it would just be a bunch of slow-moving metal and as such, easy pickings even for Russia's poorly-trained pilots. The harsh reality is that the West has, from the very outset, failed to grasp the dynamics of the situation and has continued to vacillate, prevaricate, hesitate, and provide far too little assistance to Ukraine, far too late. Aviation assets are merely one more in a long line of weapons systems that have been held back because Western "leaders" are incapable of facing up to existential threats - hardly surprising, as we always vote for windy incompetents simply because they're the ones who promise free ice-cream forever. And in the end, that's what a majority of voters want: easy answers with seemingly no consequences. Representative democracy is not a system of governance capable of responding in a timely manner to real challenges, which is why the 20th century was so disastrous and why the 21st century will be equally so. Too little, too late, always results in millions of unnecessary deaths, but we seem never to learn this very simple lesson.