Ukraine's hopes and challenges after long wait for F-16s

The US could send inflatable F-16s.

In WWII, the Allies used them extensively as war vehicles and materiél.

BBC “Russian forces have been preparing for the Ukrainian F-16s too.”

Ya think BBC? The Russians have a mean-on to destroy those F-16s. It is their white whale. I am certain that any Ukrainian pilot or service crew for those F-16s is going to have their sphincters in constant pucker mode.

Zelensky the soft-porn comedian turned politician, is incredibly naive about the military.

Moscow claims it has destroyed five Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jets and one MiG-29, along with a radar and valuable Patriot air defense launchers.
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all false of course - the planes had been park for over a decade and were nothing more than a source of spare parts. No Patriots have been hit so far.

They know this F-16 gambit won't work - they'll just try to use anything to start WWIII.

the Ukraine has 78 combat capable aircraft (vague terminology, eh?) left and Russia has 1169 such aircraft (source below). So the Ukraine is being destroyed, Putin has 15 times the number of airfcraft than the Ukraine, and you're cheering that the Russians lost a plane.
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Diva jets: Why ‘sensitive’ F-16s will be hard work for Ukraine
Soviet-era planes
SNIP
"At the beginning of 2022, Ukraine had 71 Su-27 and MiG-29 fighters, 14 Su-24M bombers, and 31 Su-25 attack aircraft, according to the annual Military Balance report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
The 2024 report says Ukraine has 78 combat capable aircraft. In the third year of the war, Russia has 1,169 such aircraft."
ransomnote: At the link, the article explains F-16s in service for 45 years now with Western allies are gong to be given to the Ukraine. It says F-16's will give the Ukraine the capacity to 'control missiles from the air' which means the Ukraine doesn't have that capacity now. From prior searches I know Putin has more modern aircraft and generally speaking, the F-16 is best for dogfights (guns at close range), although these older models can fire lighter missiles and drop bombs, whereas Putin's aircraft are designed to destroy aircraft at greater distances (out of range of F-16 weapons) and carry heavier missiles.
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At NATO summit, Zelensky presses for US greenlight to hit Russian bases
07/12/2024 2:08:17 PM PDT · 1 of 16
ransomnote
But now in this article Zelensky notes that the promised F-16's won't make much of a difference because Russia has air superiority, so the Ukraine actually needs twice the number of F-16's promised, and those promised jets will trickle in over the next few years.
Oh, but I don't think that matters anyway, because the Ukraine doesn't have enough 20 -22 year old (on average) pilots in training (somewhere between 12-and 20 are in training).
Oh and the pilots are only scheduled to receive 1/3 the combat training normally given fighter pilots because the Ukraine needs them now, and they'll be going up against Putin's veteran pilots in newer aircraft.
Oh and none of that matters anyway, because the F-16's require modern runways - which the Ukraine doesn't have. And those runways must be kept swept meticulously, and kept pristine because the F-16s have forward facing air intakes to their single engine and are therefore far more sensitive than other older fighter jets in use, which have 2 engines and air intakes which close on takeoff and landing.
Oh but that won't matter because the Ukraine can't build the needed air strips while under Russian aircraft attack. They also can't build needed air defense systems while under attack - that would take a few years.The Ukraine doesn't have sufficient air defenses to protect their runways, build runways, or protect planes parked on those runways.
Oh but that won't matter anyway because each dozen or so, older rebuilt F-16's the Ukraine gradually receives over the next few years requires spare parts and a 'tail' of 250 or so maintenance mechanics with special training.
Oh but none of this matters because these needed runways/airbases would have to be positioned near the line of conflict with Russia because the Ukraine lacks adequate air defenses to protect the aircraft if they had to fly farther over the Ukraine than locations near the front line - and where they would have to be built is easy for the Russians to bomb.
THere's more info like this - the Ukraine's F-16 strategy is a money maker, but won't win the war or stem the losses. Apparently they're all just harvesting money and remaining in war status long enough to provoke WWIII.

F-16s without robust support with maintenance and mitigating Russian air defense and without extensive training with experienced pilots will be a pigeon shoot by Russia.

They won’t last long. More embarrassment coming up for the west. Even more than the invincible Abrams tanks are.

“The first Russian solider who would shot down Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jet will be rewarded $170,000 (15 million rubles)”

So many game changers, so little effect.

You can give a high school baseball team the same bats, balls, and gloves that Major League Baseball uses. That does not make the high school team the equivalent of an MLB team.

Vlad has offered a huge amount of money for each F16 taken out. He paid out huge “ bonuses “ to the troops destroying the M1 tanks.

They will burn like all the rest western equipment.

Regardless of one’s views on the Russia/Ukraine war, one thing is quite clear:

The US and the Euro-frauds have never been interested in Ukraine “winning”. It’s about filling pockets with defense industry cash and a lot of payoffs. Period.

The Ukrainian pilots and ground crews have been waiting... and waiting... having completed training months ago.

Promised weapons keep getting delayed.. then delayed... then delayed. The weapons and no munitions... Then a trickle of ammunition. Even when the stuff is available - there is always a hang-up. And then - restrictions on how its used...

We all recall the promises made in the months that followed the initial invasion. A big surge of weapons and a major counter-offensive. Yet the so-called “allies” didn’t deliver as promised - literally giving Russia several months to not only fortify their new defensive lines, but to move massive weapons and munitions in and to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops and conscripts. Then amazingly, arms shipments to Ukraine began arriving for a fizzle Spring offensive that did little in the scope of things but get a lot of folks on both sides dead. Then another lull in weapons deliveries. And imagine that - the EU deliveries slowed amazingly in time with the US deliveries. And across the entire window of time - promises of F-16’s.

And here we are - over 2.5 years in... and still no F-16s in service.

This has NEVER been about Ukraine defending itself (though it think that is probably what most of Ukraine thinks). Biden ENABLED and ENCOURAGED Putin to invade (something Putin dared not do while Trump was President).

Just look who is getting incredibly richer from all of this... that will point you to the REAL agenda... The people of Ukraine (and to a lesser degree, Russia) are just canon fodder and pawns, along with US taxpayers.

F-16’s would have made some difference had they been delivered when promised. Not a total game-changer, but would have made a difference. But your post terribly mis-characterizes the F-16 and its capabilities.

Also- yoru post and the linked “sources” completely ignore that Poland, Germany, and others sent aircraft to Ukraine - Particularly Mig-29 aircraft. I haven’t been able to find the specific number - but between those and a lot of surplus and phased out helicopters (again, cold-War era equipment, though somewhat updated).

Still FAR FAR less than would make a major difference against the assumed Russian arsenal.

In the News/Activism forum, on a thread titled Ukraine's hopes and challenges after long wait for F-16s , TheBattman wrote:
F-16’s would have made some difference had they been delivered when promised. Not a total game-changer, but would have made a difference. But your post terribly mis-characterizes the F-16 and its capabilities.
Also- yoru post and the linked “sources” completely ignore that Poland, Germany, and others sent aircraft to Ukraine - Particularly Mig-29 aircraft. I haven’t been able to find the specific number - but between those and a lot of surplus and phased out helicopters (again, cold-War era equipment, though somewhat updated).
Still FAR FAR less than would make a major difference against the assumed Russian arsenal.
I researched this issue a lot. It's just fantasy to suggest that novice Ukrainian pilots, new to flying and receiving 1/3 the standard training, flying insufficient numbers of old retrofitted F-16's without adequate air support or all the hardware/engineering support needed, would win a war against veteran pilots flying more capable aircraft and have 15 times the number of said aircraft than the Ukraine. Air defense system would take a few years to build for Ukraine to be able to protect planes and runways sufficiently. The following threads and comments are a portion of what I read up on. Specifics of aircraft, and comparisons between Russia's aircraft and Ukraine's aircraft were farther back in time than I went tonight. I hope you will note the Ukraine's use of a WWII Spitfire. It's not that they're useless, but it's why you often find Russia's number of 'fighter jets' compared with Ukraine's 'combat aircraft'. The 70 some planes the Ukraine has to fight Russia includes prop aircraft and they conceal this by using the more general term 'combat aircraft'.
What It Takes to Fly the F-16: Challenges for Ukraine
7/26/2024, 11:58:45 PM · by ransomnote
cfr.org ^ | March 5, 2024 | Kristen D. Thompson
My Comments On The Article "What Is in the Ukraine Aid Package, and What Does it Mean for the Future of the War?" plus background information (links and commentary) not in the article.
5/14/2024, 7:50:49 PM · by ransomnote · 16 replies
5/14/2024 | vanity
Ukraine’s new F-16 fighter jets will be destroyed as soon as they arrive
7/5/2024, 1:07:16 PM · 32 of 32
Ukrainian pilots shooting down Russian drones with WW2 Spitfire-style planes in humiliating blow to Putin’s war machine
6/22/2024, 1:58:17 PM · 51 of 81
ransomnote

None of that accounts for Ukrainian pilots who were training on the F-16 platform for many months before “officially” it started. There were Ukrainian pilots training IN THE US at that time -when the DOD officially denied it and before aircraft were even promised to Ukraine. Eye-witnesses within the USAF spilled those beans. I won’t give any details of how I heard because I don’t want to jeopardize anyone.

The Russian aircraft in greatest numbers, are not the big “superior” weapons some seem to think. The one aircraft advantage some of those Russian aircraft would be longer-range targeting radar and standard A2A missiles.