Ukraine demands western-style fighter jets.
However, a former US Air Force pilot considers the F-16 fighter aircraft to be unsuitable for use in the Ukraine war.
Kiev – Much of what the West saw as a red line at the beginning of the Ukraine war is now a reality.
Western battle tanks and Mig-29 combat aircraft, for example, have already been made available to the attacked country.
However, the Ukrainian armed forces are also demanding Western-style aircraft, such as the F-16, for the defensive fight against Russia.
The United States has so far refused to supply these fighter jets.
A former US pilot doesn't think the deployment of the F-16 in Ukraine is a good idea anyway, because the fighter jet wouldn't stand a chance against the Russian air defense system, the expert told Business
Insider
.
Former Air Force pilot thinks Russian air defense system is too powerful for F-16
He wouldn't want to fly missions over Ukraine today, veteran veteran John Venable said in an interview with
Business Insider
published Wednesday (May 3) .
Venable, who was a US Air Force pilot 25 years ago and flew the F-16 fighter jet himself, had previously written on the subject for the US nationalist-conservative think tank Heritage Foundation.
As a result, the fourth generation of these non-stealth aircraft is completely inferior to the Russian surface-to-air missile systems, so-called SAM systems (surface-to-air-missile).
"Using even the best fourth-generation fighter jets against a fifth-generation SAM threat would be a costly mistake and would have virtually no impact on the war," Venable said.
The veteran believes that the Russian S-400 air defense system in particular can outsmart the target systems of the F-16 and target the fighter jets before they are in range to drop weapons themselves.
While the F-16s were more or less on par with the Soviet anti-aircraft systems of the time in the 1980s and 90s, Russia's SAM systems have now made a "big leap in performance".
“It was then that I had a chance to fight.
Today there is no longer a chance to fight,” the veteran summarized the differences in performance from his point of view.
Only a fifth-generation stealth fighter, such as the F-35, can compete with the S-400 system.
However, a weapon system is not generally viewed in isolation.
Combined arms combat is the core element of NATO's defense strategy.
This is what military experts call the integration of a weapon system into a network.
The F-16 fighter jets or other combat aircraft would also have to be integrated into a command system with air defense if they were deployed.
Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia
US training of Ukrainian soldiers on F-16 could serve as preparation for fifth generation
The United States is currently using flight simulators to train Ukrainian soldiers in handling the F-16 aircraft.
According to veteran Venable, the ultimate goal for the Ukrainian armed forces is not “to use the F-16s in combat.
Rather, they should be brought to a western standard [...].” This could serve as a preparation to make any future switch to fifth-generation combat aircraft easier in the future.
In his view, US strategy should now “focus on providing the Ukrainians with more anti-aircraft systems, such as Patriots, to take out the Russian air force while continuing to provide them with the artillery, missiles and tanks they need to to take up the fight against the enemy,” the veteran continued.
(bme)
