Ukraine is to be equipped with F-16 jets in the fight against Russia. A U.S. general, however, does not expect miracles, but a long war.
Washington, D.C. – Ukraine has been given the go-ahead for the F-16 fighter jets. First of all, for the training of their pilots on the machines. And thus, so to speak, also for the handover by allies in the Ukraine war, who have the US planes in their possession. Denmark and the Netherlands, for example, Poland, Portugal, Belgium and Norway are also said to have declared their willingness to cooperate, at least in the first step.
The Ukrainian armed forces have come a long way after months of efforts by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to wrest the green light from US President Joe Biden for the F-16 jets. Now, however, it is important to realistically assess the extent to which these fighter planes can influence the war. Experts have already emphasized that it will take time before the Ukrainian pilots can really bring the U.S. planes to full use.
The yes of the USA is here: Ukraine is being provided with F-16 jets in the war with Russia. © IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
F-16 jets for Ukraine: US General Milley emphasizes the high cost of the planes
According to Politico, Mark Milley also emphasized to the press at the Pentagon: "There are no magic weapons in war. Neither the F-16 nor any other." Previously, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces had exchanged views in a virtual meeting with the so-called Ukraine Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein format because of the meetings at the well-known US military base in southwestern Germany.
Milley went on to explain the long start-up time until the yes for the planes: "If we look at the F-16, ten of them cost a billion US dollars, their maintenance costs another billion. So we're talking about billions of dollars for ten planes." Had they been released for Ukraine earlier, they would have swallowed up a significant portion of the available budget that Ukraine needed elsewhere on the front line, he added. So was the release from the White House only a matter of time?
In any case, Milley thinks it is right to have initially equipped Ukraine with comparatively cheaper equipment such as artillery shells and military vehicles. Because it had succeeded in pushing back the Russian troops. In addition to their particularly high price, the fighter planes would also be accompanied by complex logistical requirements.
US general on air combat in Ukraine war: "Fourth and fifth generation fighter planes needed"
At the same time, the 64-year-old leaves no doubt that Ukraine needs these F-16 jets. "The Russians have 1000,<> fourth-generation fighter planes," Milley clarified: "If you want to fight them in the air, you need a significant amount of fourth- and fifth-generation fighter planes." In view of the costs and after an analysis of the fighting, he said, "the wisest thing to do was to do exactly what we did, which was to provide a significant level of integrated air defense to cover the combat area and block the airspace of the Russians."
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According to the militaryfactory portal, fourth-generation fighter jets are jets that were designed and engineered between those models of the 1960s and 1970s and the fifth generation. In addition to the F-16, the F-18, which just made headlines due to the crash of a copy in Spain, as well as the MiG-29s already used by Ukraine in the war, are mentioned as examples. They were therefore the first fighter planes to have fly-by-wire – i.e. an electronic control system. The entry into service of the US F-22 fighter jet in 2005 is considered the prelude to the fifth generation. Work is currently underway on the sixth generation, whose official year of birth is estimated to be 2030.
Expect another long and bloody war: U.S. General Mark Milley is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces. © IMAGO / ZUMA Wire
Ukraine war about to end? U.S. general fears long and bloody confrontation
On the ground, thanks to supplies from the West, the Ukrainians already have more modern equipment at their disposal than the invaders. So in the air, this could soon be the case as well. Milley is all the more convinced that Vladimir Putin's plan will not work out. "This war will not be won militarily by Russia. He won't," Arab News quoted the general as saying at the Pentagon. The goal of overthrowing the government in Kiev "will not be achievable militarily, it will not happen."
Ukraine, on the other hand, is quite capable of recapturing all lost territories by military means, but due to hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers in the country, this is unrealistic "in the near future". Therefore, Milley prepares the United States and especially Europe for further horror stories: "This means that the fight will continue, it will be bloody, it will be fierce. And at a certain point, both sides will either negotiate an agreement or come to a military solution."
What is clear, however, is that the F-16s are not the end of the line: "We will continue to support Ukraine in its fight for its own freedom." (mg)
