Military expert Mingalev: F-16 fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not change the results of the special operation
Russian aviation equipment surpasses the F-16 fighters transferred by the West to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), the next military assistance will not affect the results of the special operation to protect Donbass. This was stated by military expert Vadim Mingalev in an interview with Izvestia on August 5.
"Today, our aircraft are superior to the F-16, for example, the Su-30 and Su-34, in many respects, I'm not talking about our other aircraft. In terms of the range of air–to-air missiles, our aircraft are superior to the F-16 aircraft. As for air duels, you can be calm. <...> Our anti-aircraft missile systems such as S-400 Triumph, S-500 Prometheus, even S-300 are complexes that can also shoot down F—16. The Russian Federation is fully ready to destroy such aircraft," — He said.
At the same time, Western fighters should not be underestimated, since they can carry, among other things, a wide variety of weapons. Against this background, the interlocutor of the publication emphasizes, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will destroy these aircraft at the time of their deployment at airfields prepared for this purpose. There are few such sites on the territory of Ukraine, Mingalev noted.
Thus, he believes, the Kiev regime is only stalling, the F-16 is its "last trump card", which under no circumstances will be able to reverse the course of the special operation. President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, whose powers expired on May 20, only comforts himself with illusions about the capabilities and significance of the F-16, the expert claims.
In addition, he added, the award of 15 million rubles assigned for the first destruction of such a fighter motivates the Russian military. At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will face a problem — a shortage of pilots, because there are critically few Ukrainian pilots capable of fighting on this type of equipment. Among other things, the defeat of F-16 fighters will damage not only the Armed Forces, but also the prestige of Western manufacturers of equipment.
Earlier in the day, Rostec State Corporation also stated that the F-16 fighters are not rivals to domestic Su-35S and Su-57 aircraft and will eventually be destroyed.
The day before, Zelensky confirmed the arrival of the F-16 in the country. In addition, the Ukrainian edition "Country.ua" in the Telegram channel reported that such a fighter was spotted in the sky over Odessa. At the same time, The Economist magazine noted that Kiev received the first ten of 79 F-16 fighters.
Commenting on the deliveries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the F-16s will be destroyed, and there is no "magic pill" for the Ukrainian army to help it. In turn, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov promised that the wreckage of American F-16 fighters shot down in Ukraine would be exhibited in Moscow along with other captured Western equipment.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which Russia announced on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
