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The Russian armed forces are taking precautions against the incoming Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets from NATO stocks. Two missiles are in focus.
Moscow – A real showdown in the sky is approaching in the Ukraine war: Kiev will soon be able to receive the first of the long-awaited F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets for its armed forces.
Weapons for Ukraine: Russia takes precautions against F-16 fighter jets
The fighter jets from NATO stocks are intended to significantly and sustainably improve Ukraine’s air defense. However, Russia is allegedly explicitly preparing its fighter pilots for the F-16, as Vladimir Putin’s Moscow regime reported at the end of May, at least via military bloggers close to the Kremlin on social media.
According to the report, in addition to the MiG-35, the Russian Su-30SM2 is also supposed to stop the Ukrainians’ F-16 fighter jets. At least that is the theory in the Kremlin. As the American news magazine Newsweek reported, referring to observations by Ukrainian military bloggers, that the Russians are apparently explicitly preparing the combination of the Sukhoi fighter jet and two types of missiles for possible battles with the F-16 pilots of Kiev.
Russian missiles Vympel R-77 and Vympel R-37: Putin’s weapon against the F-16?
According to the report, in addition to the Sukhoi as a carrier aircraft, the Russian medium-range missiles of the Vympel R-77 type (range of up to 190 kilometers) and the long-range air-to-air missiles Vympel R-37 with an alleged range of up to 400 kilometers are also involved. A recent video by a Russian blogger on Telegram is the first indication of R-37 long-range missiles on Su-30SM2 fighters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the report says.
“Our military pilots have shown, so to speak, that they are fully prepared for the arrival of NATO aircraft and will respond appropriately to them,” wrote Newsweek the Kremlin-related blog Top War in the social networks. Among other things, Telegram the video of a Su-30 taking off. The video is said to show the same guided missiles, Vympel R-77 and Vympel R-37, under the wings of the fighter plane taking off. Where and when the footage was taken, or whether it was in the Black Sea area, cannot be independently verified.
Ukraine war: Rare air duels between Kiev and Moscow pilots
The Sukhoi as a major F-16 hurdle? Is this the next bluff by the Putin regime, which is currently imprisoning top Russian generals? Or will the Vympel R-77 and Vympel R-37 air-to-air missiles really become an insurmountable obstacle for the Ukrainians? It is known that in the Ukraine war there have so far been hardly any direct aerial duels between fighter pilots, as was once common in World War II, for example. Instead, both sides use their fighter jets primarily against ground targets. And usually from a relatively safe distance. For example, fighter jet missiles are used to attack radar stations or command centers.
The Ukrainians use their fighter jets to fire their powerful Storm Shadow and Scalp-EG cruise missiles at targets on the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. This also happens from a huge distance, before the air defense even has a chance to react to the attack. This may explain the comparatively low losses among the Ukrainian air force, which according to the often-quoted Global Firepower Index (GFP) As of May 24, they still had 40 Su-25M, Su-27 and MiG-29 fighter aircraft in their inventory.
![Moscow autocrat: Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.](https://www.merkur.de/assets/images/34/651/34651147-moskau-autokrat-der-russische-machthaber-wladimir-putin-1v0jYXfVfRBG.jpg)
Defense against Vladimir Putin: Ukrainian pilots complete F-16 training
A comparison: According to the same source, the Russian army had 526 operational combat aircraft of the types Su-25, Su-27, Su-30, Su-57, MiG-29, MiG-31 and MiG-35 at the same time. Based on the numbers, it is actually an unequal duel. But: The news that gives Kiev hope in the defensive battle for state sovereignty is increasing. The Ukrainian Pravda on Friday (24 May) that the first group of Ukrainian pilots had completed training on F-16 fighter jets at a military base in Arizona in the USA. The pilots are now coming to Europe for a second course.
Specifically: As the US magazine Politico writes, the pilots were trained at the 162nd National Guard Air Force Base in Tucson. The number of pilots and the exact date of their graduation would not be disclosed “for security reasons,” it said. Already on May 21, according to Ukrainian Pravda announced that ten more Ukrainian fighter pilots had completed their training on the F-16 in the Netherlands.
F-16 Fighting Falcon | |
Design country: | USA |
Manufacturer: | Lockheed Martin (since 1993) |
First flight: | 1974 |
Commissioning: | 1978 |
Length / span: | 14.52m / 9.45m |
Empty mass (weight): | 8,273kg |
Maximum speed: | Mach 2.02 (2142 km/h) |
Losses for Russia in Ukraine: Putin’s army probably lost several Su-30s
The Netherlands want to deliver up to 42 F-16 fighter jets to the attacked country, Denmark wants to provide 19 in the coming months, and five to ten are also to come from Norway to stop Putin and enable the Ukrainian armed forces to carry out operations in conjunction with ground troops and air support. But what danger does Putin’s Sukhoi Su-30SM2 pose? There are two major problems for the Kremlin autocrat.
On the one hand, according to the independent open-source intelligence website, Russia’s losses included Oryx In the first year of the war alone, at least eleven Su-30 fighter jets were built. This type of Sukhoi also proved to be vulnerable to enemy air defenses or home-made technical deficiencies. On the other hand, production is said to be progressing slowly. Specifically: In the annual analysis “Military Balance” by the British-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies it was recently said according to Newsweekthat the Moscow regime allegedly had only four combat-ready Su-30SM2 aircraft at its disposal by the end of 2023. (pm)
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