ICYMI - Norway and Denmark have both Invaded Russia at different times in history. As a matter of fact, EVERY single member of NATO has sent invasion troops into Russia. Even the United States invaded Russia in 1919/1920.
The Special Milotary Olympians retreated from Kiev a long time ago.
Anybody know which radar these donated F-16’s have?
On 6 January 2022, Norway announced that all F-16s had been retired, totaling 74 aircraft.
With the 61 already committed, the total will be 135
Denmark and the Netherlands will be providing F-16A/B Block 20 MLU (Mid-Life Update) variants that represent late iterations of the 45-year-old fighter jet. These aircraft were modernized through the MLU program between 2003 and 2005 with enhanced avionics, improved radar systems, and upgraded weaponry. With radars such as the APG66 and missiles like the AIM-120 with a range of up to 150 kilometers, they ensure formidable air superiority.
The F-16 MLU features a Head-Up Display (HUD) compatible with night operations, a GPS receiver, and a Westinghouse (now Northrop Grumman) AN/APG-66 fire control radar allowing it to carry and fire six AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, with an operational range of 150 kilometers (95 miles). It can drop guided bombs such as the GBU-24 Paveway III or the Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). This variant of the fighter also possesses the capability to carry Sniper and Litening targeting pods
Very nice F-16 donations. But the Russians will be placing their destruction and their base destruction as top priority. I hope the Ukrainians can protect these new airplanes. When they get them. Lots of pilot training to be done!
Gotta clear out the F-16s to make room for F-35s paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
It is interesting how many "elites" have visited a non-NATO nation actively at war with another non-NATO nation. Photo-ops aplenty for the home town folks. As iof they all called ahead to find if a missile barrage wasn't planned for that day....
But these almost 50-year old air frames, planning to be retired, are not state-of-the-art aircraft and in the moment Ukraine has no pilots fully trained on them, with precious few in the training pipeline.
It seems that "donating" what was planned to be scrapped is a fine bit of show business.
One observes that Netherlands, Denmark and Norway took until well past the 500 day mark to even trot this out, having missed a year and a half beforehand to do so.
As if it were for the press value. Headline news....
Ukraine should not be restricted from flying the F16s over Russia. The planes carrying drones from Iran are legitimate targets. One or two AAMRAMs against them would save dozens of costly drone intercepts later. Sounds like Vietnam where Russian SAMs couldn’t be destroyed in the harbor and our pilots had to allow them to become operational.
IMO the best way to defeat Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is to unleash American oil and gas production. it would bankrupt Russia. You may have noticed that Russia didn’t invade Ukraine when energy was cheap during the Trump administration, and invaded during the Obama and Biden administrations when energy was/is expensive.
I think this is a show to ‘justify’ Biden flushing more tax dollars down the Ukraine.
Very bizarre war. Seems if Uke lives matter, these jets would be fast tracked to the arena. Something tells me this war is more about politics than victory.