WSJ: Many of the F-16 fighters received by the Ukrainian Armed Forces are used
The Ukrainian authorities hoped that Western F-16 fighters would be able to provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) with an advantage on the battlefield, but this did not happen, reports edition The Wall Street Journal.
It is claimed that the F-16s transferred to Kyiv are “second-hand” and have been used for several decades. The article also emphasizes that these aircraft are vulnerable to the Russian army’s air defense systems, and that Ukrainian pilots do not have the necessary experience to operate these fighters.
On Thursday, August 29, it became known that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had lost their first F-16 fighter. According to Verkhovna Rada deputy Maryana Bezugla, the plane was shot down by a Patriot anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) due to “lack of coordination between units.”
Earlier, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik responded with irony to reports of the destruction of an F-16 fighter jet of the Ukrainian Armed Forces by its own Patriot air defense system. “A worthy start for a new “wunderwaffe” in the hands of the Bedouins,” he said.
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