Posted on 02/09/2025 6:04:32 AM PST by whyilovetexas111
A Ukrainian engineer who spoke with 19FortyFive explained, “This is a radar that is less capable even than the versions of the MiG-29’s N019 radar that have been upgraded by our industry. So, it is hard to do much with these aircraft considering what the Russians are putting up against us.”
Making matters worse, he continued, is “all of the aircraft sent to Ukraine thus far have had their Link 16 hardware removed. Without this, the effective ranges at which we are able to engage Russian aircraft is about one-third of the range at which their fighter aircraft can fire on us.”
(Excerpt) Read more at 19fortyfive.com ...
Without years of training and experience in the F16, Ukrainian pilots won’t be able to use them effectively anyway.
This does not make sense. To me it stands to reason the Deep State would want the Ukes to have aircraft that can continue a stalemate for the sake of keeping the laundromat open for business. For the sake of making money, losing the war early is not an option.
Keeping in mind most news is fake, this so called news may be just more BS.
May just be anticipatory spin from Lockheed.
Ukrainian ground control, Lieutenant Observant here:
Bandits 50km 3 o’clock from Kiev, headed towards the city.
When the F-16s get near, they can switch on their radars for the kills.
Man I hate when I get stripped of key capabilities.
Seems rational to not equip our hardware with the latest and greatest as the Russians will be picking up the pieces of many of them as they get shot down or otherwise crash (or land) in occupied territories.
LOL. Reminds of the engineers that drive manufacturing at the aerospace company I work for. They work in a virtual manufacturing computer environment that simulates real world manufacturing processes. I like to tease them and say “I dont know what the problem is. It works perfect on the computer”. :-)
Shouldn’t be giving them F16’s in the first place except for the kickbacks.
Agree, anyway they would have been better off with A-10s for close air support and attack of ground forces.
How about extra small fuel tanks so that they can’t fly into Russia?
“Shouldn’t be giving them F16’s in the first place except for the kickbacks.”
Every weapon we give Ukraine just means more dead Ukrainians - a policy that could only be supported by USAID funding.
19fortyfive states it gets no funding from ‘foreign governments’, an interesting word choice.
Not clear what they are talking about. They seem to be referring to engaging other aircraft. That would be a question of use of radar missiles or heat seeking missiles. The heat seeking missiles have a much shorter range.
I don’t recall what missiles were shipped to Ukraine for air to air.
The way the story reads suggests that there’s no story at all and someone has made something up.
It isn’t wise to give the most corrupt country in the world upgraded equipment.
Why? Was it to handicap the Ukrainians? Our just to reduce the risk of that tech falling into Russian hands?
Poor Froggy will be disappointed.🐸
The French 😂
Hitting the nail squarely on its head.
--- "Keeping in mind most news is fake, this so called news may be just more BS."
One observes that Johnson did not name the names of these Ukrainians. Why not?
Johnson -- whose name I had not come across before -- seems quite the promoter of Johnson. Did you notice the end of the article had a short bio begining with "Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is now an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design."
A survivor? Along with millions of others. We're survivors of 9-11. Ever refer to yourself like that? I haven't.
So as to this "survivor," MuckRack shows he is a writer selling lots of articles:
"As seen in: CNN, Yahoo Entertainment, SFGate, Rolling Stone, Washington Times, The Moscow Times, The Washington Free Beacon, Aviation International News, Janes, Connecticut Post, Conservative Review, The Bulwark, RealClear Defense, Reader Supported News, The Daily Mississippian, Digital Battlespace (Shephard Media), Shephard Media, pulaski.pl, Asian Military Review."Given that, and returning to his "bio," do you think he was/is "a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design."
Skepticism applied, I don't think he was all that he says he was. But he is a writer. "As seen in...."
Rolling Stone:
"WHEN RUSSIAN SOLDIERS opened fire on our car, I thought we were dead. It was March 4, eight days into the invasion of Ukraine. My wife and I had hurriedly packed all our valuables that could fit in one suitcase and a couple of carry-ons. We hired a driver, thinking we could make it to the train station in Irpin — a small village outside of Kyiv. Nearly as soon as we pulled away from the relative safety of the rural farmhouse we had fled to after the missiles had started falling, we ran into a group of Russian armored vehicles. 'Weaponry!' screamed my wife, Iryna, who was in the front seat and spotted the Russians first. 'Go back, go back!' she told the driver as he frantically tried to reverse. It was too late. Without any warning, Russian infantrymen began spraying our Toyota Camry with automatic-weapons fire and started to chase after our vehicle." More at Rolling Stone [ paywall ], 19 November 2022.That date for the Rolling Stone article is interesting, because he wrote FROM UKRAINE on 3 March, the day before his "harrowing" tale date, an article titled: "Letter from Kyiv: Putin’s War on Ukraine is ‘Pozor Rossii’," noted as "Writing from Kyiv, Breaking Defense's Ukraine correspondent grapples with the strategic implications and lessons learned a week after Russia's invasion."
"Explosions in Kyiv began around 5 in the morning of Feb. 23. Sites initially targeted by Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, produced by the Ekaterinburg, Russia-based Novator defence enterprise, included facilities close to the civilian Kyiv/Borispol international airport. The airport was then closed after a bombardment the same morning and has never reopened." more....He survived. At the train station on the E171 road west to the Polish border. The Irpin bridge was destroyed by Ukraine, to forestall an avenue to Kyiv. 6 March 2022. Exciting writing in Rolling Stone. Writing without naming names in 19FortyFive now. Stripped F-16s? Sure, and Ukrainians complaining about this? Makes sense too. So does your "for the sake of making money, losing the war early is not an option."
Or as Johnson in the somewhat dispassiomnate Breaking Defense article ends: "...all the world can do is continue to watch and wait, nervously, as the Ukraine situation plays out." That was in 2022.
2025 -- "...for the sake of keeping the laundromat open for business." Rare earth minerals, anyone?
Check
Also prevents them for selling one
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