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
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.