I'm sure they could figure something out if pressed to do so.
Posted on 05/24/2023 3:28:05 AM PDT by FarCenter
Now that President Biden has agreed that NATO members can train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16, it is likely Ukraine will get old F-16A/B aircraft. Although they’ve been upgraded to a degree, these planes date to the 1970s or 1980s. They are not game-changers. Maybe they will boost morale, but once they arrive (in three to six months or more), they won’t change the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine‘s F-16s will likely come from Norwegian, Danish or Dutch inventories, most likely the latter. The Netherlands has reported ongoing negotiations between itself and Ukraine on donation of the jets.
These are old versions of the F-16 (F-16A/B) that were partly upgraded in the early 2000s. Unlike the newer version, and unlike even the upgrade of Taiwan’s F-16s, the F-16s for Ukraine will not feature advanced AESA radar.
The jets will be able to carry air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons, including the AIM 120 medium-range radar-guided air-to-air missile. The planes are better than the Ukrainian Mig-29s they are meant to replace, and far easier to operate. But for Ukraine to field these jets, repair facilities will be needed.
...
The F-16 requires pristine long runways, which may not always be available in Ukraine. The jets may have to operate with half loads to get off of shorter runways and the rough existing runways may damage either airframes or onboard equipment.
One component of the mid-life upgrade was repairing cracks in the plane’s fuselage, especially critical bulkheads. These repairs seemed good enough to bring the jets to the end-of-life timeline, which the Dutch air force put at around 2023. But the calculation for the repair is mainly based on having very good runways and constant inspection and maintenance. End-of-life aircraft are not the best platforms for critical and sustained combat operations, especially at a high tempo.
IOW, they are pawning off old junk to the Ukes.
All the better to boost sales of F-35s to paying customers.
The F16s are sacrificial. Every one knows they ( like the Patriots, Himars, tanks, M777, etc) will not change the outcome.
What they will do is test Vlad’s latest equipment. Vlads S400’s and AA missiles are said to be “ the best”. The West needs to send them to confirm/ deny that assumption. We supply the equipment, the Ukies supply the sheep.
We shall see, but I do expect Vlad’s layered, combined integrated AD to perform exceptionally well.
Russia has always claimed to have the best, and especially the biggest of everything. Most of it doesn’t work right, and never as claimed, with maybe the exception of the Tsar Bomba (which was too heavy to be deliverable anyway).
That’s the difference between a $800 billion defense budget (ours) and a $40 billion budget (Russia). Our stuff works, more or less.
Cash for clunkers
“ The F-16 requires pristine long runways”
LOL. No.
"The F-16 Fighting Falcon has had a distinguished history, and the U.S. Air Force is capping it off with a bang. Every year the service modifies F-16 fighters into F-16 drones, transforming them from hunters to the hunted. The resulting drones, known as QF-16s, are then shot down for target practice."
Well that statement is 25% true in that they don’t have rough field landing gear and tires like some old Soviet planes.
Also they don’t like FOD.
Otherwise I read that and scoffed a it as well.
Cash For Clunkers?
...hate to say it, but those older F-16A and B models are little more than flying relics....hell; used to work on Block 30 F-16C and D models and they are all in the boneyard or have been turned into flying target drones...our “birds” were built in the mid-1980s so that tells you how old those A and B models are....this is all for propaganda purposes...
Yup, the oligarchs in DC running this crap show are making money hand over fist.
Gotta feed that quagmire.
Essentially a European subsidy to the American MIC.
Nuclear weapon trade ins are gonna be next.
Agreed. That integrated AD - present on both sides - has firmly shaped the conflict until very recently (when the AFU AD assets finally seem to have been degraded).
The contrast with western land-based AD elements such as the Patriot system could not be starker.
It made me immediately disregard the article.
That said, I had no idea the caliche strips — made by soldiers with hand tools in a night ——- we’ve used are “pristine”. I’ll have to compliment them.
I'm sure they could figure something out if pressed to do so.
Yep
Just a matter of time
Oh, sure!
That's why we paid Russia a gazillion dollars to launch our astronauts into space -- when we couldn't.
Get real.
Hangar Queens?
Yes. FOD threat
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.