A US Air Force F16 fighter jet takes off during a Romanian-American maneuver in 2014: can Ukraine still use F2024 jets in 16? © Mircea Rosca/dpa-Bildfunk
Ukraine could try to retake Crimea with the help of F16 fighter jets. However, it could take months before that happens.
Kyiv – So far, it is not clear when exactly Ukraine could get Western F16 fighter jets, nor who will deliver how many. However, a US expert emphasizes that it is not the timing, but the purpose that is the all-important question: What would Ukraine use the F16 fighter jets for? Meanwhile, Ukraine has high hopes for the prospect of US F-16 fighter jets for the Ukraine conflict.
They would not only strengthen the country's defense, but would be a strong signal that Russia will fail with its aggression, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday. Russia, on the other hand, said that the fighter jets would become targets for the Russian military. In Moscow, it was also said that the planes were not decisive for the course of the war.
Ukraine wants 48 F-16 fighter jet aircraft
"The sooner (they are delivered), the better, they will help a lot, remember my words," Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told newsweek.com. Where the fighter jets will be deployed, and when, remains a well-kept secret. On Friday, however, more became known about how many planes Ukraine would like to have. "Four squadrons of F-16s (48 aircraft) are exactly what we need to rid our country of the aggressor," the Ministry of Defense said on Twitter on Friday.
U.S. experts estimate that the F-16 fighter jets will be used in connection with the recapture of Crimea. "Ukraine has stated that it intends to retake Crimea, but that it would prefer to do so bloodlessly," Brynn Tannehill told Newsweek.com. Tannehill is a technical analyst at the US think tank RAND Corporation. The moment when the F-16s are needed the most, he said, is the moment when they can isolate Crimea.
"Joe Biden's green light for the delivery of F-16 fighter jets by allies and the training of Ukrainian pilots has a simple reason: Ukraine should regain Russian-occupied territories as quickly and as far as possible and cut off the supply routes for Russia's occupying forces in Crimea," ZDF's US correspondent Elmar Theveßen said.
F16 fighter jets for Ukraine: maintenance of aircraft becomes a decisive factor
"The F-16s provide a guarantee that Ukrainian airspace will remain disputed," Mykola Bielieskov, a research associate at the National Institute for Strategic Studies of Ukraine, told Newsweek. "The aircraft will allow us to detect a greater number of incoming targets from a greater distance and shoot them down more reliably than is currently possible." Meanwhile, there is a consensus that it may take time for the fighter jets to actually be used. Experts expect it to be in late 2023 or early 2024. F-16s are not a magic weapon, warns a US general. And there are another hurdles to overcome.
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"Even if it only takes about four months to retrain a pilot who has experience in handling a MiG-29 or a Su-27 to switch to the F-16, it could take even longer for you to have a maintenance team in place," said former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk. In the defensive fight against Russia in the Ukraine war, Ukraine recently asked the German government for the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles. (dpa/kat)