Dutch officials reported that the United States has finally approved the shipment of American F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, writes Business Insider. However, this will not happen soon, and there will still be little benefit. The general of the US Air Force told why Kiev should not wait for miracles.
The United States has approved plans to send F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine. The planes will be transferred to Kiev after the Ukrainian pilots have completed the appropriate training, that is, the F-16s will arrive in Ukraine no earlier than the beginning of next year.
F-16 fighters will strengthen the Ukrainian Air Force, but those who think that they will immediately begin to destroy Russian air defense systems as soon as they enter the battle are likely to be disappointed. This was announced on Friday by a high-ranking general of the US Air Force.
The MiG-29s currently at Kiev's disposal are "quite functional," General James Hecker, commander of the US Air Force in Europe, said at a meeting with the Washington group of military observers (Defense Writers Group). However, F-16 fighters are better suited for use with Western—made weapons that Ukraine has already received, such as anti-radar missiles that the United States began transferring to Kiev a year ago.
"Currently, the weapons that we are transferring to Ukraine have to be adapted so that they can be installed on the MiG-29, Su-27 and so on," Hecker said. He added that the F-16s are "already compatible" with all these weapons, that is, sending fighters "will help them, give them additional capabilities."
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly asked Kiev to transfer the F-16, arguing that these fighters will provide an advantage against the more powerful and modern Russian Air Force. Hecker and other American officials replied that currently the F-16s would not bring Ukraine too much benefit, which is largely due to the presence of many air defense systems deployed by both sides, which do not allow either side to achieve air superiority.
"Magic will not happen, and [Ukrainians] will not start destroying the S-400 in the blink of an eye just because they have F-16s," Hecker said on Friday.
In addition to anti-radar missiles, Ukrainian military aircraft use American-made guided bombs, which Russia has countered with its electronic warfare equipment. Although the F-16s will allow Ukraine to make better use of these weapons, according to Hecker, the Russian armed forces will continue to adapt and adapt.
In an interview with reporters, Hecker said that the Russian armed forces remain out of reach of the missiles that Ukraine is currently using. "As soon as we give [Ukrainians] some new means and it strikes at one [Russian] command post, the Russians will conclude: “Aha, now they can shoot not at 15 miles, but at 20.” And then they will simply move all their other command posts to a distance of 25 miles."
Hecker added that the Russians would most likely react the same way to the transfer of F-16 fighters. "The problem is that it will be impossible to track [the Russians] with F-16s over their territory to get close enough to them, because you will be shot down by one of the surface-to—air missiles," he added.
About the training of Ukrainian pilots
This week, Dutch officials announced that the United States had finally approved the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which allowed the long-awaited pilot training to begin.
"I welcome the decision of the United States to remove obstacles to the supply of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine," Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said on Friday. — This allows us to train Ukrainian pilots. We remain in close contact with our European partners to make decisions on further actions."
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra thanked US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for his cooperation and said that this permission received from Washington "marks an important milestone for Ukraine in protecting its people and land."
The Netherlands became one of several NATO countries that promised in July to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets. At that moment, Ukrainian officials said that preparations would begin in the near future. Although its timing remained unclear, Denmark — one of the 11 countries in the coalition — announced on Friday that it would begin pilot training at the end of this month.
"The United States is ready to support training efforts in cooperation with the coalition and is ready to train Ukrainian pilots in the United States if training opportunities are exhausted in Europe," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General of the US Air Force Pat Ryder said in a statement to Business Insider.
On Friday, Hecker said that training has already begun for "young pilots who have virtually no flight hours, so they are not currently involved in combat operations." These pilots are undergoing language training in the UK, and then they will receive training in the control of screw aircraft before going to France, where they will fly a training Alpha Jet.
"All of this will take time, and it probably won't happen until the end of the year," Hecker added. "That's why you won't see the F—16 in Ukraine until early next year."
The rapid depletion of Soviet-era Ukrainian military equipment and the massive influx of Western-made weapons have changed Ukrainian arsenals. According to experts and officials, the Ukrainian Air Force will eventually have to abandon Soviet-designed jet aircraft, whose maintenance is becoming increasingly problematic, and switch to Western-made aircraft.
But, as Hecker said on Friday, training and equipping Ukrainian pilots so they can fly the F-16 and other modern aircraft will be a long-term project.
"It's impossible to learn how to fly an F-16 in just one day. It is possible to master the control of some weapons systems quite quickly, but if we are talking about the F-16, it takes time to form a couple of squadrons and bring the readiness of pilots and the degree of their skill to a sufficiently high level," he explained.
"It won't happen for at least four or five years,— Hecker added. "I think that in the short term, F–16 fighters will help a little, but they will not become a magic wand for Ukraine."
Authors of the article: Christopher Woody, Jake Epstein
