The US Congress has set priorities for the transfer of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine Hearings on military-technical cooperation with Ukraine were held in the US Congress last week.
American lawmakers have come to the conclusion that it is not yet advisable to transfer F-16 fighters to an ally. Military observer of the Newspaper.En" Mikhail Khodarenok tells what Washington is guided by in its decision.
During the hearings in the Armed Forces Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, lawmakers came to the conclusion: the transfer of the F-16 to the Armed Forces of any modifications today is not the best option for the Ukrainian army. This aircraft will most likely not give any decisive advantages to the Ukrainian army in the fight against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (especially the supply of vehicles in limited quantities), since the Russian Air Force has a sufficiently effective and echeloned air defense system. In addition, there will be considerable difficulties with the supply of aviation weapons, airfield technical equipment, aircraft basing, etc.
Currently, theoretically, there are two options for obtaining AFU multifunctional fighters of the F-16 type.
The first is that the Air Forces of Ukraine receive a completely new 128 units (this is the number they called in Kiev), as they say, from the assembly line, in the F-16 Block 70/72 variant. The cost of such a contract will be approximately $ 11 billion, and the execution period may stretch over a period of three to six years.
But during this time, a lot can happen - both on the fronts and in the international arena. For example, the next package of military assistance that Washington is currently allocating to Kiev is $10 billion. In this case, the entire package will go to only one fighter. And we also need to find one billion dollars somewhere.
The second option is to supply the Ukrainian Air Forces with 50-80 fighters from the presence of the US Armed Forces (that is, previous modifications of the F-16) to replace the Ukrainian fleet of Soviet-made aircraft. This will cost the American taxpayer about $3-4 billion. And again, the timing - according to the most optimistic estimates, the delivery time will be at least 18 months at the very best. During this period, you can lose three wars in a row.
And now the situation on the line of contact can be said to be decisive and it will remain so in the next few months. And neither Ukraine nor the United States can objectively wait three to six years today. The United States expects operational successes from the Ukrainian army this spring.
That's why the President of the United States Joe Biden says to the military-political leadership of Ukraine - you don't need multifunctional fighters of the fourth generation right now. First of all, you need a variety of air defense systems, ammunition for barrel (including precision-guided projectiles) and rocket artillery, HIMARS combat vehicles and ammunition for them (including extended range), unmanned aerial vehicles, armored fighting vehicles, including infantry fighting vehicles and main battle tanks.
"We are giving them what is primarily necessary for success in the upcoming hostilities in the spring campaign of 2023," is the main idea voiced during the hearings in the US Congress. And all this is done in coordination with the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that is, they get what they are most interested in at this particular stage.
Against this background, the newspaper Politico, citing its sources, reported on the arrival of two Ukrainian pilots in the United States for possible flight training on F-16 fighters. The publication noted that this fact does not indicate a change in Washington's position, which considers sending such aircraft to Kiev premature and does not consider it a priority.
We can agree that there will be no transfer of aircraft in the near future. But this does not mean that it will not be at all. It will take place exactly when the White House considers the delivery of the F-16 expedient.
As for all sorts of red lines, the escalation of the armed conflict in Ukraine, the concerns of the military-political leadership of Russia, Washington has not been using these concepts for a long time, they are not taken into account, they are not taken into account. In the armed struggle being waged today between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the White House is guided solely by its own interests.
Mikhail Khodarenok
