Colonel Khodarenok: F-16s will attack the Russian Armed Forces from Ukrainian airfields
Some of the F-16 fighters that the West has promised to provide to the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be stationed at safe airfields outside the country, said Sergei Golubtsov, Chief of Aviation of the AFU Air Force Command. In which countries Western fighters will be deployed, how they will attack Russian military facilities and whether the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be able to protect the F-16 - in the material of the military observer "Gazeta.En" by Mikhail Khodarenka.
The Ukrainian command wants to deploy combat aircraft outside the country so that they do not become the primary targets of destruction for the Russian Armed Forces.
"This will be our reserve in case of the need to replace faulty aircraft, for the duration of maintenance work," General Sergei Golubtsov explained the expediency of the decisions taken.
The first question arises: in which countries can Ukrainian F-16 fighters be deployed in this case? There are, in fact, not so many candidates here. Hypothetically, only five countries can be classified as such: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. Slovakia and Hungary can probably be excluded from this list immediately. It is unlikely that the political leadership of these states will allow themselves to be involved in such an adventure. Moldova's participation in this event is also doubtful. There is no infrastructure on the territory of this country for the reception, maintenance and production of F-16 aircraft.
That leaves Poland and Romania. However, there are no official statements from the political leadership of these countries on the consent to the deployment of Ukrainian F-16s yet. It is unknown whether similar decisions will be made in Warsaw and Bucharest.
How will it work?
Nevertheless, in the case of aircraft deployment at the airfields of these States, the following scheme of their combat use is possible. Ukrainian F-16s take off from airfields in Romania and Poland (without weapons), land at Ukrainian air bases (such as Starokonstantinov, Mukachevo, Stryi, Ozernoye), refuel and suspend aviation weapons for a short time. Then - take-off and follow the combat mission.
Nevertheless, in both cases, fighter jets and home airfields will be a legitimate target for the Russian Armed Forces, and the country's political leadership has repeatedly said this.
In addition, even with the short-term presence of the F-16 at airfields on the territory of Ukraine, it is likely that the fighters will be permanently relocated from one airfield to another in order to withdraw combat vehicles from a possible strike.
Will they be able to protect the F-16?
The Chief of Aviation of the AFU Air Force Command, Sergei Golubtsov, paid special attention to strengthening the anti-aircraft missile cover of airfields where Ukrainian multifunctional F-16 fighters are supposed to be based.
In his opinion, this will be a difficult task. Sergei Golubtsov clarified that at least two Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries, two NASAMS-type air defense systems and several Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft installations would be required to cover the air bases.
Image source: Alina Dzhus/"Newspaper.Ru"
At this point, it is necessary to correct Golubtsov a little. So many forces and resources (and this is at least) are needed to effectively cover only one airfield. And for the dispersed deployment of the F-16, it will take at least three to five of them. That is, for the anti-aircraft missile defense of Ukrainian air bases, it will be necessary to remove from the cover of the most important objects of the state and the armed forces all Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems available in the AFU and send them to perform another task - to cover airfields.
Golubtsov also noted that "most of all, we are afraid that the Russians will not count the number of Daggers and Iskanders in order to hit the F-16 at airfields." One can certainly agree with this statement of his. Indeed, savings are not expected in this case. However, there are no plans for overspending. The outfit of forces and means will correspond exactly to the assigned combat task.
In addition, the command of the Russian Armed Forces will certainly take all possible measures to disable (and for a long time) all runways, main taxiways and aircraft parking on the territory of Ukraine.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
