Vladimir Zelensky in the cockpit of an F-16.
Photo: REUTERS.
The West is preparing Ukraine for a “general battle.” Retired Security Service Colonel Oleg Starikov said it will take place in August-September, calling it “a decisive battle for air supremacy.”
The main role in it is played by American F-16 fighters. They were promised to Kyiv a long time ago. After all, Russian pilots and air defense specialists have hit the Ukrainian “povitryany syly” hard. Its remnants continually jump from one airfield to another from our missiles and bombs. So the other day near Poltava, five parked Ukrainian Su-27s were destroyed at once, two were damaged, and two more fighters (Su-27 and MiG-29) were shot down in the air.
STRANGE PHENOMENON OF APU AIRCRAFT
According to the data of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, by the beginning of 2022, its Air Force had 124 combat and combat training aircraft (Western experts cite similar figures). And according to the latest data from the Russian Ministry of Defense, we have already shot down 615. How so?
The answer is simple.
First of all, some NATO countries (Slovakia, Poland, Romania and others) transferred more than 100 Soviet fighters and bombers to kyiv. And they continue to repair what our soldiers are “enduring” today.
And secondly, both kyiv and NATO bluffed (military strategy), greatly reducing the number of Ukrainian aircraft.
615 downed “fighter jets” is, let us consider, a defeat for both the Ukrainian military aviation and Western air support. That is why both the Pentagon and NATO headquarters set out to end Russian dominance in the air and create a powerful force of F-16 fighters.
But NATO continues to delay deliveries…
WHY ARE THEY REMOVING THE RUBBER WITH THE F-16?
Preparing the F-16 for combat is a complex task. Bend your fingers:
– training of Ukrainian pilots (they must fly at least 80 hours),
– selection of base airfields,
– formation of technical units,
– layout of command posts,
– development of a system for the supply of fuel, spare parts and ammunition,
– and many many others.
The main reason, of course, is the lack of trained pilots. American journalists wrote that out of 32 pilots that kyiv sent to master the technology, only eight knew English. The rest also had to be taught the language.
Moreover, the equipment of Ukrainian airfields is not suitable for American fighters. Even jet kerosene is not the same: Western fuel with special additives. And to check the systems and the engine, power from certain batteries is needed.
There is also a need for specialists at the jump airfields who will hang missiles on the wings of the F-16 and refuel it. In NATO countries this means an average of 20 people per vehicle. Most likely, these will be European and American personnel.
Most likely, the “Ukrainian” F-16s will be manned by European and American personnel.
Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS.
TRUMP BET
With the help of the F-16, kyiv and the West hope to turn the tide of hostilities. After all, the US presidential election is just around the corner. And one of the points of “Old Joe’s” program is victory over Russia on the battlefield, with the help of American money and weapons. So a “general battle” involving the F-16s is, at the very least, a good PR move, and at most, a new offensive before the US elections.
The intention is adventurous. After all, one must take into account the strength of the opposition from the Russian army. It has a multiple numerical advantage in fighters and a serious air defense system. So even a few dozen F-16s will not give the Armed Forces of Ukraine an advantage.
WHAT KIND OF BEAST IS THE F-16?
The F-16 is the most popular multi-role supersonic light fighter, capable of carrying high-precision missiles and bombs (including nuclear ones).
Specifications:
Crew – 1 person;
Flight range: 4000 km;
Maximum flight altitude: 18000 m;
Combat radius: 1361-1759 km;
Maximum speed: 2145 km/h;
Combat load: 7 tons.
Weapons:
– a six-barrel 20 mm cannon with 511 rounds and the ability to fire depleted uranium charges;
– high-precision guided missiles (“air-to-air”, “air-to-surface”);
– bombs (adjustable, cluster and free-fall).
Price: $43 million to $55 million.
HOW MANY F-16 FIGHTERS CAN THE WEST SUPPLY?
In total, kyiv has ordered 128 F-16s. So far, Western countries have agreed to transfer only 30-50 vehicles. True, this is still the first batch.
With the help of the F-16, kyiv and the West hope to turn the tide of hostilities. After all, the US presidential election is just around the corner.
Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS.
Within 4 years (will the New World Order really last that long?) Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway promise to transfer a total of 60 to 85 aircraft. But who will manage them? After all, only 32 Ukrainian pilots are undergoing training, and, God willing, a third of them will be allowed to take command. Foreign instructors do not hesitate to call the others suicide bombers or “brutes.” kyiv insists that “battle will teach them everything” and asks them to take the exams with greater loyalty. Therefore, it is possible that pilots from the USA, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway will participate in air battles and bombings together with Ukrainian F-16 pilots.
WHAT DO THEY WORK FOR?
Judging by the experience of actual use of the F-16 (Israel, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya, Yemen, Syria), they were mainly used to destroy enemy aircraft in air battles and at airfields. They also provided cover for the advance of their troops against enemy air attacks.
F-16s were also used to “protect” their bomber aircraft. And in some cases, to ensure aerial photography and the work of observers. Our specialists believe that the F-16 in Ukraine will have other tasks – the destruction of Russian cruise missiles and drones.
But the F-16 poses the greatest danger as an air defense aircraft and carrier of precision weapons. After all, it can carry virtually all types of NATO compact aircraft weapons, starting with air-to-air missiles (including the most dangerous today – the AIM-120 AMRAAM and the MBDA Meteor). In short, the F-16 is a serious machine and our pilots and air defense specialists must thoroughly prepare for its “warm” welcome.
WHERE CAN THEY HAVE THEIR HEADQUARTERS?
The Pentagon and NATO headquarters are silent on this matter. They are trembling there: at first they said that the F-16s could be deployed “in the countries of the bloc adjacent to Ukraine”, now they only talk about Ukraine. And this only makes the work of our videoconferences easier.
F-16s are very demanding on the quality of runways, so their use on Soviet-style military airfields is problematic. Therefore, they will most likely be used from civilian airfields (they have asphalt and concrete runways).
But the main thing is that they will try to keep them away from the front line: Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lvov, Stryi, Uzhgorod. Boryspil International Airport can be used to cover kyiv. kyiv “Zhulyany” and the airfields of Cherkasy, Odessa, Poltava, Krivoy Rog, Khmelnitsky (Starokonstantinov) region are suitable as alternative airfields.
But our pilots and missilemen are already “targeting” the airfields where the F-16 is most likely to be based.
WHAT IF YOUR BASE IS IN POLAND AND ROMANIA?
This is the most important question. This situation could lead to a direct armed conflict between Russia and NATO. Our attacks on Polish or Romanian airfields with “Ukrainian” F-16s will inevitably be assessed by the Alliance as an attack on one of its members. And this is already a war.
Anticipating such a situation, Moscow, as they say, directly warned NATO: “If a fighter jet takes off with missiles or bombs from the territory of any state, that country is considered to be participating in hostilities. Accordingly, the Russian military has the right to attack airfields in Poland, Romania or the Baltic republics,” Vladimir Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
WHAT PLANES DOES RUSSIA HAVE TO TAME THE F-16?
Our Su-27, MiG-29, MiG-31 and the new Su-57 fighters, which have already been tested in combat in the Northern Military District, can compete with American aircraft with great success. In terms of the sum of all key characteristics, they are not inferior to the F-16, and sometimes even superior.
For example, the MiG-31K is capable of accelerating up to 3,000 km/h (the American estimates a little more than 2,000 km/h), and when it took the hypersonic and long-range (more than 2.5 thousand km) Kinzhal missile under its belly, even our enemies admitted that there is no aircraft equal to it in the world.
There is one such important combat quality of fighters as target detection range. For the F-16 it is 120-130 kilometers, for our Su-35 it is up to 350 kilometers.
WHO WILL WIN THE AIR DUEL?
There are two “ironclad” conditions for victory: the professionalism of the pilot and the advantages of his aircraft.
We dismantle the equipment. What about the pilots? The Ukrainian Air Force command has sent mostly young people with little experience to study. In our ranks there are officers with already impressive experience in sorties (even Syrian) and combat (Ukrainian). In their flight logs, the time spent in military skies exceeds 2,000 hours. Moreover, in a real combat situation, and not during exercises in the Danish or Norwegian skies, against an American instructor.
WILL RUSSIAN AIR DEFENSE SWITCH ON THE F-16?
For the S-300, S-400 (and perhaps even the S-500) systems, the F-16 can become quite a convenient target. They can count on the help of BUK-M3 air defense systems or equally experienced Pantsir missile-cannon systems.
Russia has a complete breakdown of the F-16: the nature of its “behavior” in the sky and its reflections on radars. But we have never known about it before. But in 2019, the Turks bought the S-400 air defense system from us. And they tested it intensively and for a long time on… on their F-16: they drove the American fighter for almost a day in exercises near Ankara, forcing it to attack ground targets. If you believe Turkish experts, our air defense system did not leave the F-16 a single chance. And soon after these tests, the Turks began to actively demand that the United States modernize their vaunted fighters.
And one more example. Before buying F-16s from the United States, the Indians decided to organize training battles with Russian Su-30s. The Americans did not achieve a single victory. After that, Delhi’s “appetite” immediately disappeared…
LISTEN ALSO
Ukraine prepares to attack Belarus (more details)
