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Ukraine has high hopes for the F-16 fighter jets to defend itself against Russia. But even though the jets are due to be delivered soon, there are still hurdles to overcome.
Kiev/Moscow – Ukraine hopes to soon be able to rely on F-16 fighter jets for defense in the Russian war of aggression. According to current information, it is conceivable that Ukraine could deploy the jets this summer. They are to be delivered from Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, among others. If there weren’t a serious problem on the Ukrainian side that overshadows the F-16 issue in the Ukraine war.
Ukraine is hoping for F-16 fighter jets – but is it prepared to use them?
As the Ukrainian newspaper KyivPost and the political online magazine Politico report, there are currently problems and delays in the training of Ukrainian fighter jet personnel. The reason is that the Ukrainian military does not seem to have sufficient personnel capacity. So far, far too few soldiers have been trained as fighter jet pilots. By the end of the year, they hope to have 20 – but Ukraine’s western allies have agreed to provide their military with a total of 60 of the F-16 fighter jets.
How KyivPost and Politico The USA is also not in a position to train more Ukrainian pilots, they say. There are 30 candidates in total, but the training center in Tucson, Arizona, has already reached its capacity limit. With the shipment expected to arrive this summer, the attempt to increase its own capacity sufficiently by then seems to be a major hurdle for Ukraine.
Although some pilots have already completed training in France, Denmark and the USA, the first jets are due to be delivered soon. Euronews reported that Ukrainian soldiers aged 21 and 23 were recently trained as fighter jet pilots at airfields in southern France.
Is a lack of fighter jet personnel a reason for Ukraine’s new France initiative?
Major Erin Hannigan, public affairs officer for the Arizona National Guard, admitted Politico However, she acknowledged that the 162nd Squadron trains 30 foreign pilots annually. When asked if this number could be increased, she said it was not possible.
The question now is whether the USA knew how many pilots they could actually train when they promised training capacity. In addition, Denmark and Romania are apparently unable to take on any more pilots in their programs. The training facility in Denmark is due to be closed next year anyway, as the Danish Air Force is converting to F-35 fighter jets, reports Politico.
On the part of the KyivPost Author Jeffrey Fischer suspects that the Ukrainian shortage of fighter jet pilots was one reason for a deal with France. At the beginning of June, French President Emmanuel Macron had promised Ukraine Mirage 2000 jets and training of pilots and maintenance personnel within six months.
US politicians urge Pentagon to increase training capacity for Ukraine
According to information from Politico American politicians are urging the US Department of Defense to increase training capacity. Some MPs have written a request letter – apparently without success so far. According to the report, the US government has pointed out that it also has training obligations to other countries.
A few days ago, the administration under President Joe Biden announced that it would give priority to Ukraine for some arms deliveries and make other partners wait. It cannot be ruled out that this is also possible for pilot training for Ukraine.
F-16 fighter jets are considered to be very efficient – but they are not free of weak points
But personnel is not the only hurdle when it comes to F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine. One disadvantage of the multifunctional wonder weapon is the relatively high demands the fighter jets have on the ground conditions of airport runways. Vladimir Putin will know this and will want to exploit the F-16’s vulnerability to his advantage.
“Some Western fighter jets, such as the widely used F-16s, do best on long, pristine runways. But they may struggle on the bumpier former Soviet runways scattered throughout Ukraine,” write John Hoehn and William Courtney. The analysts at the Californian think tank EDGE see this as Ukraine’s current challenge.
Putin is already launching attacks on infrastructure that could be important for F-16 fighter jets
Recently it became known that the Kremlin is already planning and carrying out attacks on infrastructure that is considered important for the use of F-16 fighter jets. The magazine reports Defense Expressthat Russia has currently fired ten cruise missiles of the KH-101 and KH-555 types; seven have been repelled by Ukraine, while one of them could hit Ukrainian infrastructure hard, the Defense Express.
One of the missiles fired is said to have a cluster warhead. According to the online magazine, it was manufactured in the second quarter of this year and is therefore a clear sign that Russia is bringing innovative weapons to the front against the F-16 fighter jets. “This missile was used by the Russians to attack airfields,” writes Defense Express. (fh)
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