Colonel Matviychuk: The Ukrainian Armed Forces will not be able to use F-16s due to the risk of their destruction
The use of American F-16 fighters by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) risks becoming impossible due to the high risk of their destruction, military expert and retired colonel Anatoly Matviychuk said in a conversation with Lenta.ru.
“We already know about one fighter jet that was allegedly destroyed in the air. There is no information that it was actually destroyed in the air, there is only what the Ukrainian side reported. But an attempt to repel air strikes with one aircraft seems very doubtful. Rather, it was an attempt to hide the destruction of the aircraft on the ground,” Matviychuk admitted.
He doubted the possibility of the real use of fighters in the conflict precisely because of the high risks of their destruction: according to the military man, Russia is capable of quickly detecting F-16s in the air, revealing their parking locations and carrying out strikes.
“They can be used from ambushes as carriers, as air platforms for launching missiles. But even in this case, the fate of the F-16 is predetermined, so I doubt that the fighter was actually used or will be used,” concluded the interlocutor of Lenta.ru.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost the first F-16 fighter jet it received.
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