Zelensky is trained and ready so his was the first delivered.
Posted on 07/10/2024 10:01:02 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
WASHINGTON – Ukrainian pilots will take to the skies in American-made F-16 fighter jets in the coming weeks to deter Russian airstrikes, the leaders of the US, Denmark and the Netherlands announced Wednesday.
Kyiv is set to receive 78 F-16s from a consortium of NATO countries who got President Biden’s permission last year to dispatch the American-made aircraft and train Ukrainian pilots.
“The transfer process for these F-16s is now underway, and Ukraine will be flying operational F-16s this summer,” Biden, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a joint statement.
Denmark and the Netherlands previously announced that they would donate 42 of the 78 promised F-16s to Ukraine, while Belgium is sending another 30. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre also announced Wednesday that Oslo would donate six F-16s from its inventory.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
78 F16’s. Ugh
Are there really any Uke jet pilots still left?
“will be flying”....more like....”cleaning up airfield”
Could it be a valid concern that an intact F-16 might somehow end up in Russian hands?
They need to put out some dummies to take the first wave of attacks.
I hope they have reinforced hangars for them. They left their MiGs out in the sun…and that did not work out.
Does Ukraine even have an operable airfield to land, store and maintain them at??
Also, has Ukraine trained the hundreds/thousands of pilots, controllers, payload masters and maintenance crew for them?
Sounds like another volley in the propaganda war....
Especially since they are turning the UKe pilots loose with only 6 months training for a position that normally takes 2 YEARS of training.
I’m sure they already have a few, but these aren’t the latest generation with the latest advanced electronics.
I am certain that some of the F-16 pilots, if not most, are NATO F-16 pilots released from duty to fly for the Ukrainian Air Force. One of the oldest tricks in the proxy war book.
The Russians are going to work overtime to destroy these aircraft, their bases and the NATO personnel servicing and piloting these planes.
“A total of 20 Ukrainian F-16 pilots are expected to graduate by the end of this year — half of the 40 needed to operate a full squadron of 20 jets”
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/05/ukraine-f-16-pilot-training-00161742
I agree.
And I see this, among other things, turning into Kamikaze missions.
WIKI
Early F-16s could be armed with up to six AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking short-range air-to-air missiles (AAM) by employing rail launchers on each wingtip, as well as radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range AAMs in a weapons mix. More recent versions support the AIM-120 AMRAAM, and US aircraft often mount that missile on their wingtips to reduce wing flutter. The aircraft can carry various other AAMs, a wide variety of air-to-ground missiles, rockets or bombs; electronic countermeasures (ECM), navigation, targeting or weapons pods; and fuel tanks on 9 hardpoints – six under the wings, two on wingtips, and one under the fuselage. Two other locations under the fuselage are available for sensor or radar pods. The F-16 carries a 20 mm (0.79 in) M61A1 Vulcan cannon, which is mounted inside the fuselage to the left of the cockpit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon
They and any airfields that launch from will be destroyed before they get anywhere near the frontlines.
Zelensky is trained and ready so his was the first delivered.
They should get nothing newer than a Block 20 ADF.
The F-16 is not designed to operate from unimproved airfields, so, yes, a proper runway is needed. The support infrastructure is, ironically, pretty easy. They fly back to Poland for maintenance and the supply lines are much cleaner and numerous for an F16 than legacy Soviet aircraft.
The F-16 does not have powerful radar and would be vulnerable to larger Russian air-to-air aircraft who could shoot them down from a distance. So don’t expect huge incursions into Russia proper with F-16s.
What they will probably be used for is to close the airspace over Ukraine proper, for which they are well-suited and would prevail when flying above friendly radar and support.
This would limit Russia to stand-off attacks and support ground-based anti-missile activity. The F-16 is well suited to take out the glide bombs and other weapons currently plaguing the Ukraine.
They can also be used to launch HARMS and other air-to-ground missiles from friendly airspace, using the current software, which doesn’t work (well) with the former Soviet aircraft. These missiles are all far cheaper, more accurate, and more numerous than ground-to-ground missiles. This creates the strong likelihood that Ukraine can cut off Russian troops in the the Crimea from re-supply.
In short, this is not a game-changer, but even 20 or so vipers consistently in the air in such a small area would be a large defensive and offensive boon to the Ukrainians.
Great idea...
Attack the most powerful nuclear armed country in the world with USA military jets.
What could possibly go wrong?
Not particularly. Both the Russians and Chinese have crawled all over F16s many times in countries like Egypt and Jordan.
The software for the newer missiles is the only real secret and it can even be wiped by satellite, let along a button pressed by a pilot.
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