The arrival of F-16 fighter jets does not solve Ukraine's war problem

2024-07-12 07:54:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The arrival of F-16 fighter jets does not solve Ukraine's war problem

Photo taken by Reuters

The first batch of American-made F-16 fighter jets will soon arrive in Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands. They will fly over Ukrainian skies this summer, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

The length of the process, from procuring fighter jets and training Ukrainian pilots to flying them, has angered Kiev.

Russia has had time to prepare its defenses to try to nullify the impact of the F-16 jets, while Ukraine has had to survive with a weak air defense, which is far less than the enemy's sophisticated air defenses.

Below you can read some facts about how F-16s can help Ukraine and the obstacles it faces in using them.

Potential impact

Some analysts say the F-16s alone will not prove a turning point in the war of aggression that Russia launched in February 2022.

"You have to separate the symbolism from the actual impact on the battlefield — which will be useful but simple, especially in the beginning," said Mark Cancian, senior adviser for the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). .

Serhiy Kuzan, head of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, a non-governmental think tank, said at least 60 aircraft are needed for major operations in Ukraine's efforts to push Russian aviation across its borders.

Lawmaker Oleksandra Ustinova, who heads Kyiv's parliamentary committee on arms and ammunition, said Ukraine needs nearly 120 F-16 jets to significantly bolster its air defenses.

While pilots gain experience in Ukrainian skies and the military builds air infrastructure, the first deliveries could help Ukraine at least bolster its air defenses, experts say.

"They will provide some air defense and, perhaps, help defend against the Shahed [Iranian-made drones] and against cruise missiles," said Justin Bronk, senior airpower and technology researcher at the Royal United Services Institute. (RUSSIA).

The Ukrainian military has worked hard to limit the threat to the F-16 jets in recent months by attacking Russia's air defense systems, according to Kuzan.

"The formation of the battlefield, especially in the south, is already happening. "Ukraine has weapons to continuously attack Russia's main air defense," he said.

Pilots and maintenance

Training will be crucial.

"You can have a lot of fast fighter jets, but if they don't have effective weapons and the crew to use them with effective tactics, then they're going to go down in droves," Bronk said.

The length of training of Ukrainian pilots to use the F-16 jets has been the main topic of the talks on the delivery of more than 70 fighter jets that have been promised to Ukraine.

By the end of this year, Ukraine expects to have at least 20 pilots ready to fly the F-16s, Ustinova says.

According to her, initially Ukraine will have more F-16 aircraft than qualified pilots.

"It's not okay to wait in line for 10 years until our pilots are trained," she added.

American officials have said that questions about training should be directed to Ukraine and have emphasized that pilots can also train in Europe. However, Bronk said that NATO's capacities are already overstretched.

He added that aircraft maintenance is an even bigger challenge than pilot training.

He stressed that most of the maintenance and repairs must be done within Ukraine and that it may have to depend on foreign companies familiar with this type of aircraft.

Air bases threatened

Russia has already stepped up airstrikes on infrastructure that could be used for maintenance and storage of F-16 jets, according to some experts.

"Russia is attacking all airfields, potential F-16 bases, every day, and trying to damage the airstrips and infrastructure. These attacks have not stopped in the last two months," said Kuzan.

Targets will become even more vulnerable when aircraft, pilots and maintenance crews arrive.

This will likely force Ukraine to deploy anti-aircraft to protect them, even though it faces a shortage of anti-aircraft and ammunition for them.

"We have to accept the fact that airfields will be very well protected when civilian targets are attacked," Kuzan said, adding that each base would need at least two Patriot anti-aircraft and two NASAMS batteries to protect.

“Once we strengthen our combat capabilities, we will repel their warplanes and terror will end. But the first two months will be really difficult", added Kuzan./ REL