Military aircraft F 16 will soon arrive in Ukraine
Photo: REUTERS
What is happening in the NVO zone with reconnaissance, with new weapons and with the introduction of reserves into battle?
On Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda, in the program of Ivan Pankin and Igor Vittel, they discussed this with Andrei Klintsevich, director of the Center for the Study of Military and Political Conflicts.
WHAT PLANES WILL KYIV GET
– How many F-16s will Ukraine get in the end and where will the pilots come from?
– I specifically asked our pilots a question. They say: “The pilot, who studied for a fighter for 5 years at a military school, comes to the combat unit and begins his 6th year.” Ukraine does not have many pilots left. They usually fly in one direction. The rest has to be recycled for a long time in a completely new system.
– So, maybe they have been studying for a long time?
– Probably because it’s not about “three months of recycling.” If we look at the structure of the US Department of Defense budget for 2022, we will see a very curious item of spending: 100 million dollars for the training of Ukrainian pilots. And last fall there was information that some of the pilots, graduates of the Kharkiv Military Aviation Institute named after Kozhedub (by the way, Hero of the Soviet Union) were already trained by the Americans. At first there was information that the minimum training period was one year.
– Not six months?
– Ukrainian pilots are so bright that they will be taught in six months – so they said. But half a year it did not work out, and now they are “getting” somewhere. Your task will be to take off, launch a long-range missile and land. There is no talk of any air battle. F-16 is not ready for this. It is single engine. It has a fairly small radius compared to our modern Su-35 aircraft, they’ll take them out at a gate.
– Why are we comparing the F-16 and Su-35?
– Yes, a linear comparison of technology is, as a rule, incorrect. There are many factors. Conventionally, our R-37 air-to-air missile reaches 300 kilometers, and they have a Sidewinder – more than 100. We have an active phased array on an aircraft with a range of 400 kilometers, they, depending on the modification, may have less. It is important to understand what kind of aircraft it will be. I do not think that kyiv will receive the latest generation of F-16. And in the United States it works in a complex. They have an AWACS aircraft hovering in the air, which sees the airspace thousands of kilometers away and gives the target designation to the aircraft itself, etc. If this is not the case, then the system will work differently.
COUNTING MONEY
Planes are very expensive. In and tanks – very expensive. And they’re on fire…
– For the Americans with their Abrams, the Leopard is the world’s leading competitor. “Leopard” tinyut 22 countries in the world. They were sent to the battlefield, the Leopards are on fire, and the countries are abandoning these tanks in favor of the Abrams. Many countries that transferred Leopards to Ukraine have already received Abrams instead, with a support package to follow.
Of course, with airplanes this story is even more expensive. Americans are going through a rotation. Each airline corporation produces its own model and sits in it for 20 years, reducing the rent. Conventionally, the F-35, which is now being imposed on all Europeans, even those who have their own plane. This is done by Lockheed Martin. The next plane, already of a new generation, is manufactured by Boeing. And the F-16 is General Dynamics. It is headed by Phoebe Novakovic, a former undersecretary of defense who wields great influence. And now let’s answer the question: do the Americans want the F-16s to burn in the fields of Ukraine, when they have upgrade packages for these aircraft until 2035, when else can they earn money? Of course not.
– And what should be done so that Ukraine receives planes?
– It is easier for the Poles to force the delivery of the MiG-29 to Ukraine and to Warsaw the F-16. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said 10 planes is several billion dollars. This is too much money, which, probably, no one is willing to take on now.
– But did the numbers from 150 to 200 ring?
– We cannot talk about such figures for sure, they are already tens of billions of dollars. We are talking about 10-20 planes that will fly along the western border of Ukraine. Its mission, I repeat: to be a missile launch platform like Storm Shadow or SCALP.
AND THERE ARE ROCKETS
Why, then, should the United States not transfer long-range missile systems to kyiv instead of fighters?
– They’re trying to. But this is not so much. They need to get to our infrastructure deep within our defenses.
– What are you talking about?
– About ATACMS operational tactical missiles, which are used for Hymars. But the Americans cling to them. They have few of them. And they don’t release them until a new one arrives. This is the so-called PrSM – it flies for 700 kilometers. Therefore, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces use Storm Shadow as long-range missiles. In addition, they are considering the possibility of organizing a launch from the ground. They have a ship version, and maybe they’ll make some kind of mobile launchers.
– What about bomb planning?
– The Boeing company has promised to match its own production planning bombs with starters from old unguided rockets for Hymars. As a result, they received a certain tool for 150 kilometers. There is a small warhead, but, nevertheless, it flies.
– Will this frontline situation not change?
– No. Ukraine’s reserves are declining and they will not be able to achieve real results in the near future, except for media ones, such as an attempt to seize the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
WHAT’S IN RESERVE
What powers do they have left?
– They probably had 10 brigades left. Plus 5 brigades of the National Guard, the so-called offensive guard. Neither the Challengers nor the German Marders have yet been seen on the contact line. This is in service with only those brigades that are preparing. They, by transferring forces and means to the south, weaken the Kupyansk direction, which we took advantage of and broke through the line of defense there on the other side of the Stallion River. And we began to develop our offensive in the direction of the Oskol reservoir. And for them it is a problem. We are also separating them along the entire front line.
– Is it worth sending “Armata” to the front now?
– All our new weapons have been tested for a long time at the front, both Su-57 and Armata tanks. We planned it in case of such an armed conflict. Guessed or not, time will tell. Maybe the concept will change, the self-propelled gun will merge with the tank. Maybe you and I will see 152mm guns on this new tank. On the “Armata” it was considered such a moment that it could shoot at long distances with a different line of ammunition. But this is a core tank, for network-centric warfare…
