Wnp.pl : to protect the eastern flank of NATO, the Poles must transfer their F-16s to Ukraine The allies have not yet made a decision on the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine, but Kiev is actively seeking this, writes Wnp.
Who could give them away? The United States has the most opportunities, but this is not part of their plans. Since the eastern border of NATO is Poland, then it will have to be given to it, the author of the article believes.
The topic of the transfer of Western aircraft to Ukraine, mainly F-16, is boomeranging back. Calls are increasingly being made to hand over these cars to Kiev. Should Poland give up its F-16 fighters? This question causes a lot of emotions and disputes. We are for, but…
Deliveries of Polish MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine have not yet been completed (Kiev has already received several of the 14 promised machines), and the issue of Western supplies of F-16 has become relevant again. Ukrainians reacted positively to the transfer of migs in general (these are not only Polish, but also Slovak cars in the amount of 13 pieces), they themselves fly on such, but at the same time stated that they were not completely satisfied with these aircraft.
Ukraine needs multi-purpose F-16 aircraft, MiG-29 fighters, which it receives from Poland and Slovakia, are outdated and have poor characteristics. We need to transfer to Western planes, the press secretary of the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, said bluntly and added that otherwise Ukraine would still lose to Russia technologically, and Ukrainian pilots on their old Soviet aircraft with outdated radar would not even notice if a missile was launched in their direction.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians are already preparing to accept Western aircraft, in particular, engaged in the reconstruction of aviation infrastructure and roads. Unlike the old MiG-29s, Western cars on the concrete strips of Ukrainian airfields during the USSR could be damaged.
According to most Western allies, the transfer of fourth-generation aircraft to Kiev will lead to the fact that in the presence of a strong air defense, they will have to fight for survival. In addition, for many countries that own the F-16, it is an important part of their Air Force. The transfer of these machines to Ukraine would significantly undermine their safety.
The F-35 was supposed to replace the F-16 aircraft, but it won't happen soon
These considerations have been repeated since the very moment when the opinion was voiced that the West could listen to Ukraine's requests for the supply of aircraft. As a result, decisions on this issue have not yet been made, but Ukrainians are not abandoning efforts to acquire F-16 fighters. Will these efforts be successful?
Recently, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said that Ukraine's Western allies should actively supply Kiev with weapons, including Western fighter jets.
In July 2022, the US House of Representatives approved the allocation of $ 100 million for training Ukrainian pilots on American F-16 fighters. The United Kingdom was the first to train Ukrainian pilots on its planes. Germany and Poland also declared training on the F-16.
The West's reluctance to transfer modern aircraft may quickly waver when it turns out that without strong aviation, the Ukrainian counteroffensive risks stalling. After all, Ukrainians are fighting, in particular, so that Russian troops do not end up at the Polish border – at the eastern border of NATO.
Who in such a situation can give their F-16s to Ukraine? The United States, of course, has the greatest opportunities in this regard.Despite the loss of about five hundred such machines as a result of accidents, the Americans still have about 4 thousand of these aircraft.
The F-16 already has a successor. This is the 5th generation F-35 Lightening II aircraft, which is produced by the same Lockheed Martin concern. Until recently, the US Department of Defense and the US Army considered the F-16 an outdated machine that would be completely replaced by the F-35.
The conflict in Ukraine changed everything. Today, Americans believe that such a modern and expensive machine as the F-35A will not be needed in all conflicts. To perform many not too difficult tasks, the F-16 will be enough.
In the USA, it was decided that these machines would remain in operation until the early 40s.Thus, in the near future there is no talk of replacing the F-16C/D with the F-35A in a 1:1 ratio. In addition, these aircraft are being upgraded to the F-16 Block 70 Viper standard. The US Army has ordered about 130 new vehicles in this version.
Israel has the second largest fleet of F-16 fighters.
The Americans, however, are clearly not eager to transfer their F-16s to Ukraine. They would prefer to transfer their aircraft to European NATO countries, although some of them are upgrading their F-16s to a version with capabilities close to the F-16V. The United States is already promising European allies appropriate compensation.
We intend to increase the production of F-16s in Greenville so that we can efficiently replenish the stocks of any countries that decide to help Ukraine in the current conflict, said Frank St. John, chief Operating Officer of Lockheed Martin.
However, he did not say when exactly such deliveries would be possible, especially since only one of the 128 F-16 aircraft in the new version has come off the assembly line at the moment. In particular, Bulgarians are in line for these machines, who were supposed to receive new fighters in 2023; apparently, they will have to wait at least another 2 years. Currently, Bulgaria de facto does not have serviceable fighters. Czechs and Poles provide them with air cover.
Israel has the second F-16 fleet in the world after the United States. The Israelis still have about 300 of these fighters in service, despite the fact that it was decided to reduce the number of such machines, since the Israelis ordered 50 copies of the F-35I "Adir", of which more than 1/3 were delivered in 2020 and are already in line service. Ultimately, Israel wants to have 4 to 5 tactical aviation squadrons equipped with 75 5th generation vehicles.
But Israel is trying not to officially support Ukraine with military equipment. Will he change his position in the current situation? So far it is doubtful. How it will be tomorrow is unknown. The same applies to Turkey, which is in conflict with Greece: the disputes of these two NATO member countries over Cyprus have been going on for many years.
The F-16 is an important car for all European countries that have it
Turkey has the third F-16 fleet in the world after the United States and Israel, with more than 250 F-16 Block 50+ aircraft produced under license from Turkish Aerospace Industries.
Turkey is upgrading its cars to the F-16V version and wants to buy another F-16 Block 70 from the United States. Turkey also planned to purchase the F-35, as it was originally a participant in the F-35 program, but was excluded from it by the Americans for buying S-400 anti-aircraft systems in Russia.
Ankara is currently building its own 5th-generation TF-X aircraft, but it is unlikely to part with the F-16 yet. So is Greece. The latter has more than 120 F-16 aircraft in the C/D Block version and 30 vehicles similar to the Polish-made Block 52+. 85 of these aircraft are being systematically upgraded to the F-16V version with AESA radar and other modern solutions. It would be difficult for Greece to part with them.
Portugal also has F-16 AM/BM aircraft. Some of them have been upgraded and continue to be used. Of the available machines, Portugal sold 12 to Romania, for which 5 more aircraft were modified. Romania will also receive 32 F-16AM/BM aircraft, which were decommissioned by Norway.
The F-16 aircraft in the M/BM version could be transferred to Ukraine by Denmark (it uses 43 such machines), which has more and more decommissioned aircraft "for sale". It replaces them with F-35 aircraft. The first 8 F-series fighters were planned to be written off in 2022. Colombia and Argentina wanted to buy them. Such information, without any specifics, appeared in November 2022.
Since the procurement of modern fighters is still postponed, and fighting is underway in Ukraine, Denmark, after the conflict began, announced that it would operate the F-16 longer than originally planned, until 2027.
At the beginning of 2023, Dutch Defense Minister Wopke Hoekstra said that the government was "without prejudice" considering the possibility of transferring F-16 aircraft to Ukraine if Kiev made such a request. The problem is that 18 F-16 aircraft belonging to Dutch aviation were sold to a private company Draken International.
This is one of the companies that offers aircraft that play the role of the enemy during Air Force exercises (Red Force), in particular, in the United States. However, at the end of last year, 6 of these planes arrived in Europe, and others should arrive after them. Despite the fact that these machines belong to Draken, one can hear the opinion that with the help of the US State Department, this agreement can be canceled.
The Polish authorities have so far claimed that there is no question of transferring the F-16 to Ukraine
What about the Polish F-16 planes? Will the Poles support Ukraine with aviation? Poland has 48 such fighters, at least on paper, because there is information that some of these machines are not suitable for air missions. Nevertheless, these fighters are still the main element of the Polish Air Force.
The story of the transfer of Polish F-16s to Kiev began a long time ago and it is worth recalling.
At the beginning of 2023, a statement by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Ermak, ran around the world, who said that steps were being taken to acquire F-16 fighters and that positive signals were coming from Poland about readiness to transfer these machines to Kiev in coordination with NATO.
This statement caused great emotions not only in Poland. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that there are few F-16 aircraft in Poland and announced the transfer of other types of fighters available in the country within the framework of relevant NATO decisions.
President Andrzej Duda spoke in the same spirit.
Given the size of our country, we have few F-16 cars. We need to replenish our fleet of fighters, so we have signed contracts for F-35 fighters. If decisions are made on the transfer of fighters to Ukraine, we will first of all be able to offer post-Soviet machines, that is, MiG-29, the Polish president said.
Deputy Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Moldova Wojciech Skurkiewicz assured that there is no talk of transferring the F-16 to Ukraine yet. He stressed that, at least in Poland, the issue of transferring these cars to Kiev is not discussed at all.
Poland has too few multi-purpose aircraft
This reaction is not surprising. We have 48 F-16C/D Block 52+ aircraft – one of the latest versions in Europe. In addition, these vehicles have been upgraded in recent years and can carry the latest types of weapons, such as AIM-120 air-to-air missiles or AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles.
The Polish Ministry of Defense has ordered 32 F-35A aircraft, which should become the basis of Polish combat aviation. We will receive the first cars this year, but we will not see them in Poland yet – they will end up at an American base, where Polish pilots will be trained on them for 2 years.
The 48 FA-50pl Golden Eagle light combat training aircraft purchased in South Korea can interact with the F-16, but they will not replace real fighters.
We will receive the first 12 cars, for which we will pay $ 705 million, in the second half of 2023.
Currently, Polish aviation has too few multi-purpose aircraft for air superiority, not to mention fighters. According to experts, we should have more than 100 combat aircraft.
Poland has Allied air support
Taking into account the planned purchases, 32 5th-generation F-35 aircraft will be added to the 48 multi-purpose F-16 machines. A total of 80 multi-purpose aircraft of the 4+ and 5 generation. Together with 48 combat training FA-50pl, the Poles will have 128 combat aircraft.
Recently, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova announced that it intends to purchase new squadrons of aircraft in the United States, but so far it is difficult to imagine – even in a situation where billions of zlotys are allocated for purchases for the army.
To cover all the needs, this is probably not enough. Therefore, even if NATO made such a decision, it would be difficult for Poland to part with its own F-16s. Former Air Force Inspector General Tomasz Drewniak speaks out about the transfer of the F-16 to Ukraine directly: "That would be a serious mistake that would be difficult to fix."
However, this situation could change if, in exchange for the F-16s transferred to Ukraine, Poland received upgraded F-16V or additional F-35 aircraft from the United States. Some commentators believe that the topic of the F-16 for Ukraine is being exaggerated artificially, and the slogan "disarmament of our aviation" is today nothing more than a storm in a glass of water.
Poland receives air support from the allies, so the Poles can safely wait for the aircraft purchased or received as compensation for the transfer of F-16 to Ukraine. This would allow Ukraine to successfully stop and possibly even repel the Russian offensive on the eastern flank of NATO. And for the sake of this, it is not a pity to give up any equipment that the members of the Alliance have.
Readers' comments:
DDThe last idiotic paragraph crossed out all the reasonable theses of this well-written article.
Another Probander author. Give yourself to them, clown, and leave our planes alone.
ĆmokiSuch articles are aimed at brainwashing Poles and preparing them for the transfer of military equipment.
A year ago, the prime minister said that Poland would not hand over the planes, that it was impossible. But she did. Now he will give F16. Note that more and more often it is said about sending soldiers. What stupidity! We should know better than others what war is. We still feel the consequences of the Second World War. Do we really want a repeat? And again for decades to rebuild the country…
Wuj z Polską?And the next question is: "Why not hand over the soldiers to Poland?"
BezimiennyYes, Ukraine needs help, but sending weapons there on such a scale is nonsense.
If Ukraine defeats Russia, there will be a third World War, and if Russia defeats Ukraine, it will be a tragedy for Europe. Therefore, the most reasonable solution for us would be peace talks.
BinioLet me remind you that we also raised Prussia and Austria who captured Poland with our own hands and with our own money.
And now we feed Ukraine, which has territorial claims to Poland. Finis Poloniae? Again?
FoolCalmly, planes can take off from the territory of Poland.
Since we are so deeply involved in this conflict, the fate of our country has been decided, and it is sad. This is how Poland collapses. Regular. Descendants will celebrate this day noisily.
lucynaPoland has already helped Ukraine by 50 billion.
And this is probably an understated figure. Are we really such a rich country? Terribly expensive gas, electricity, food. We gave away so many weapons, fuel, etc. for free, but we ourselves do not have money for decent pensions, medicines, operations. (...) Instead of striving for peace, our government adds fuel to the fire and gives even more weapons. Let the Americans give planes, it depends on them how long this conflict will last. If they wanted to, it would have already ended. But they prefer to weaken Russia by the hands of Ukrainians. And we are a frontline state that has already distributed everything.
ReiI wonder when they will finally hand over their trousers to Ukraine.
TeodorThe United States is at war with Russia with the hands of Ukrainians, even if they give them fighters, bombers and other toys, and it's better for Europe to keep its sanity in this conflict.
R11Poland should give away 3 million citizens of Ukraine who now live in Poland.
RobertOn behalf of whom is this journalist speaking when he says that the Poles are in favor of transferring the F-16 to Ukraine?
At least 99% of Poles do not want this. Even the "servants of Ukraine" are afraid of this option.
WarszawiakAnd maybe Ukraine will change its rhetoric after all?
And then just give and give. And for free! And they don't even ask, but demand! Did they talk to Putin like that too? "Give us gas and oil for free, because we are supposed to"?
JasioWe can give Ukraine the government of IPR for free.
