Western countries are preparing to transfer combat aircraft to Ukraine
MOSCOW, Dec 29 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. In the UK, they reported on the training of the first six Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighters. Western media claim that several planes have already been transferred to Kiev. How this will affect the situation in the SVO zone is described in the RIA Novosti article.
Improve your English
According to the American magazine Newsweek, the first batch has "quite likely" already been delivered to Ukraine. Although Kiev's allies have not officially reported anything. Daniel Rice, a former special adviser to the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, explained this as follows: "The West has learned not to announce new weapons systems being supplied." This was the case, for example, with the Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles.
F-16 fighter aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Air Force
Image source: CC BY-SA 2.0 / Carlos Menendez San Juan /
However, this did not help to achieve significant results on the battlefield. Moreover, during the year Kiev lost Artemovsk, Soledar, Marinka, Opytne and several smaller settlements.
One of the reasons for the failures in Kiev is considered to be Russian aviation, which, in fact, has nothing to oppose in the sky. Recall that the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway have pledged to transfer more than 60 early-generation F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Deliveries were not going to start until spring. The speaker of the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, clarified at the end of December: the fighters will be brought after the infrastructure and crews are prepared for them. And Newsweek denied the information.
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and Acting Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte on the background of an F-16 fighter jet at Eindhoven Air Base
Image source: © Photo : Zelenskiy Official/Telegram
In NATO countries, Ukrainian pilots train in several centers. The first group of six Air Force officers completed a five-month course, which included physical training, learning English, mastering basic knowledge about the design of a fighter, as well as the principles of its control. Now, according to the British Ministry of Defense, they have gone to Denmark to practice. Ten more pilots arrived in the UK to replace them.
The training is progressing with a creak. Back in August, Zelensky, according to him, agreed with the West on the immediate start of preparations. But among the first 32 selected pilots (there were no more, their ranks were noticeably thinned), only eight were more or less proficient in English. Therefore, linguists took care of the rest.
For long-range strikes
The AFU wants the F-16, the most massive fighter of the fourth generation, for a reason. Since 1978, more than 4,600 units of various modifications have been built. They are in service with 25 countries and can use almost the entire range of weapons of tactical aviation of NATO countries.
Ukrainian military leaders place special hope on JASSM cruise missiles. AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile — a single air—to-surface missile). This is a high-precision munition developed by Lockheed Martin Corporation and adopted by the US Air Force in 1986. It is designed to defeat important highly protected stationary targets in any weather conditions and at any time of the day from launch distances outside the range of enemy air defense systems. The range is 370 kilometers, in the AGM-158B JASSM-ER variant — up to 1000 kilometers. The combat unit is unitary, penetrating — weighing 450 kilograms.
Composite materials based on carbon fibers are widely used in the design of the rocket, the body is completely made of carbon fiber, which reduces radar visibility. In addition, the rocket flies part of the route at extremely low altitudes with a circumference of the terrain.
Loading of JASSM missiles on board the B-1B Lancer strategic bomber of the US Air Force
Image source: © Photo : U.S. Air Force / Tech. Sgt. David Scott-Gaughan
This is a rather formidable weapon with which the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be able to strike deep into Russian territory — primarily at airfields. But the F-16 is a fighter for gaining air supremacy. It has a wide range of air—to-air missiles, including the AIM-120D with a range of up to 160 kilometers. This munition is comparable to the Russian R-77M.
Faith in the "miracle weapon"
There is a big bet on the F-16. It's a game of all-in. If the fighters and Ukrainian pilots perform well, Kiev will ask the West for additional help. But if Russian missiles start shooting down planes of the American design school, this may be the last straw for Washington.
The fact is that the F-16 is a commercially successful fourth—generation fighter. His reputation is highly valued at the Pentagon.
"A very expensive car," says military expert Ivan Konovalov. — The maintenance of five Falcons is about $20 million per year. How many of these cars can the West give away? The arithmetic is obvious. Zelensky gives the impression that there is a kind of "wunderwaffe". And where should he go? He wants to survive, now his political survival corresponds to his physical one, and he understands this well. Therefore, the supply of F-16s is something that we must believe in."
The situation is complicated by the fact that Kiev will receive F-16A/B, improved compared to the original F-16s of the late 1970s. However, they are very far from the level of those aircraft operated, for example, by the United States. Thus, the outdated APG-66V2 radar is installed on Dutch Air Force fighters, tracking only a few targets, while the modern APG-83 radar copes with dozens.
The Su-35 multirole fighter of the Russian Aerospace Forces
Image source: © RIA Novosti
However, the outcome of an air battle is decided primarily by flying skills. Ukrainian pilots will have to prove in practice that a fighter pilot of a Western school can be trained in a few months. And their exam will be taken by the crews of more advanced Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S aircraft, who have accumulated so many aerial victories since the beginning of their war, as no Western ace has ever dreamed of.
