An F-16C Fighting Falcon assigned to the 85th Test Evaluation Squadron shoots an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM over testing ranges near Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., March 19, 2019. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Hoskins)
The United States will train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jet fighters and cooperate with its allies to deliver the warplane to Ukraine, national security advisor Jake Sullivan announced on May 20, confirming Washington’s participation in the “fighter jet coalition” planned by Kiev’s allies.
In the past, U.S. President Joe Biden has rejected the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Western jet fighters, claiming that they are not necessary for Kiev’s military operations.
During a press briefing Sullivan explained that the U.S. already helped Ukraine repel Russia’s initial offensive and equipped the country with weapons sufficiently for a successful counteroffensive. Now, the focus is on building Kiev’ future deterrence capabilities, which include F-16 jet fighters.
The training plan will unfold in the coming months. It is unclear yet which countries will be supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. However, the U.S. won’t be providing any of its own.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, agreed on May 17 to build the “jet fighter coalition” for Ukraine. On May 20, Portugal and Denmark also declared they will join the initiative.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter originally developed by General Dynamics, and now produced by Lockheed Martin.
The fighter jet can deploy a wide range of weapons, the most notable of which are the AIM-120 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, the AGM-154 standoff glide bomb, the AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missile and the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile.
Recently, Kiev received a number of Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland and Slovakia to make up for some of the aerial losses it sustained after the start of the Russian special military operation. However, its air force is still nearing complete depletion.
Supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets will likely cost billions. Furthermore, the training of Ukrainian pilots could take several months, if not years. Kiev’s allies may opt to provide older models of the fighter jet and hire experienced mercenaries to fly them to solve these issues.
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i wonder how long sullivan will remain at his position in the state department? the way things are going there could be a military coup in washington.
let me know more.
nah. blinken, newland, sullivan, kirby and the pentagon mighties love and hug each other all the time except when they are plotting to get rid of citizens.
gerry there will be no military coup in wash. d.c. the coup you concern yourself with is a tool only used by us/british intelligence (mi6,mi5,cia,fbi) against other nations just as they did in 2014 in kiev. you must understand patriotic forces don’t overthrow governments nor do they assassinate leaders.
considering that the patriot system just intercepted and destroyed every hypersonic missile the russian terrorists launched at kiev sending them the f-16s is a no brainer.
intercepted yet somehow still got destroyed itself. that single battery unloved 130million+ worth of missiles. and still got destroyed. there is images now of the damage done and it looks like several things were hit, additionally there were drone strikes in the area as well as conventional cruise missiles too.
also a note is ukraine shoots down more missiles than russia launches. so if russia fired 12 missiles, ukraine shoots down 30 and claimed russia launched 40 in total 10 got through. this is how they are trying to boast their success while actually failing. it’s to make themselves look better by making it seem that they lack sufficient anti air to neutralize the massive amount of missiles while in reality they just can’t hit them regardless.
that’s the thing. not even 10 got through. every single one of them gets destroyed. ukraine includes the worthless iranian drones all of which they destroy as well. the drones don’t even work as decoys.
lol using the ground to intercept missiles.is not what we call success.
yet kiev had many sites hit? also reason why they are pulling down cameras every where now is to hide their losses. several sites are hit and there is satellite images to prove it so the end of the day, your fictional universe is the number 1 best seller for biden and friends
of course its no brainer as you don’t have any !!
dude, you’re hilarious!
if you took on a gig doing stand-up comedy, i’d pay to see you.
funny stuff…real mel brook$
keep dreaming…
creo es una decision mas politica que realista. ya se ha dichho que es casi imposible entrenar pilotos de mig para f-16, que es mejor un piloto desde cero para estos aviones, asi que significa años de entrenamiento para entender y controlar bien este avion y despues, enfrentarse a la despiadada fuerza antiaerea rusa
exactly! it is just a way to recycle some old f-16 and nothing more.
more nato propaganda. they will be all destroyed by the rusian af if any get airbone ….
that’s all it is.
not many runways can accommodate these aircraft in ukraine. furthermore, the maintenance and specialized housing/ facilities arent established in ukraine. the f-16 requires well maintained runways, free of debris animal life, and relatively level and smooth to take off and land safely. none exist in ukraine. the only hope would be to base these out of ukraine and fly them into ukraine for sorties.
further more, these aircraft will require lots of training. even if pilots in ukraine have been training for months on them, it won’t be enough. i’d theorize western “volunteer/merc” pilots will be used. additionally if they are stationed outside of ukriane, they usage would constitute as a direct attack against russia if used in such a manner. in such a scenario, natos articles wouldn’t be valid in a retaliation against the offending state.
finally, the russians would surely notice any work being done on runways to extend and maintain to to a higher level or notice the facilities being built in ukriane. the likelihood is ukriane would base these in the western most regions, along the border if in ukriane at all, and implement massive antiair assets around them in hopes of keeping them safe. if these get shot down, it is a huge blow to the west which is afraid to lose these aircraft more than the patriot systems.
you’re right in your analysis, no way these make any sense apart from recycling some hardware and give false hopes of a game changer.
tak už priznávajú zrazu aj žoldnierov? hm … tak potom by ruské vojská nemali brať žiadnych zajatcov!!!
and again these warlords are arguing…… as always in the stupid history of mankind.
of course, they will allow for other countries to give up their f-16 as then they have to buy new ones from usa !! business as usual for the nazos scum !!
no reason to worry for russia it has the means to clip f16 wings swat these out of the sky like sqashing flies. and not only this its also depriving usa and allies from their military assets faster then they will be able to replenish them. jsf deliveries are way years behind slow and have big problems under the hood. ukraine is a bottomless money pit for the west. its draining our military capabilities faster then we are able to replenish them. better make peace and end the conflict
f-16 is not an “air dominance fighter” like the f-15 (or the f-22 which is not exported) there is no way it makes any military sense other than a financial and communication operation.
probabil ca vor prin f 1×6 sa le dea o potentiala platforma si pt alt tip de arme… tot au sectiunea mare si apar pe radar… dar pot practica actiuni sinucigașe nucleare cu ele.
most of rooskie fanboyz have not thought what is russian military with no western lend lease unlike 1941-45. remember what zhukov said of lend lease in early 1960s. it was far more crucial to keep bear alive and making it stronger than putin’s russia want to admit.
wenn die rote armee gewollt hätte, wäre sie 1945 bis lissabonn durchgerollt mit ihren damals 6 millionen mann unter waffen. die usa haben land lease nur gemacht damit millionen russen gegen die wehrmacht an der ostfront sterben um sich gegenseitig aufzureiben, weil es sonst millionen amis an der wetsfront gewesen wären. hätte volldepp adolf nicht russland überfallen sondern diese truppen in europa verteilt, wäre nie ein alliierter lebend in der normandie oder in sizilien gelandet.
+1 @ tomb.
russian pilots have never been very good in air war. during ww2, namely in 1944, it was 8 times more dangerous for luftwaffe pilots to fly against raf and usaaf than against vvs. and luftwaffe always got most modern aircraft in west tha east.
1944 is 70+ years ago… wake up!
the fucktard organization is the military arm of schwab and his club of child murdering rapists. be sure to get your special injections so you and your family can’t have children. the most uniformed people on earth are cheering for the army that is killing their grandparents and causing low birth rates: the fm got it right that people so ignorant need to be replaced. and so they shall be.
about 10 million $ to train a pilot in that aircraft and about a year. wonder which pocket the money is coming from: usdod, or the biden slush fund for ukraine?
the same source as since 100 years, out of nothing, out of air, fiat money with money press. actual us debt over 32 trillion and growing some 2 trillion a year. but such a ponzi scheme will end like all before, in a big fat blast.
more and more westerners are waking up to this scam and want to go east. +1
if the u.s. agrees to transfer f-16s to ukraine, the situation could get out of hand, because the transfer of such weapons is nothing more than the u.s. joining a war, which this time may come to u.s. territory, and no one knows if it will be a war using conventional weapons. such a message is like stroking a dog by against the hair.
dead men flying…
creo que si entran en combate serán derribados.
“us will allow?” “will allow?” the other worshiper countries of the us are just a bunch of snot-nosed servants. how pricky!
so? the most will be old f16 block 15/20/25 and maybe max. 30. no mach for russian su27, su30 su34/35 and without any stealth features also nice targets for russian air defense. apart from that, where are the smooth and clean airfields that will be needed for f16 in ukropistan, where the hangars and the hundrets of needed mecanics?
the natostan filth are destroying rump ukrapland and their sheer desperation is palpable as this latest gimmick to obviously send their own pilots to be destroyed by a very protective mother bear. will russia have to “take out” the natostan sewer in brussels, aka the evil center of the eussr?
will berlin have to be “remodeled” yet again to finally destroy the sickness of german arrogance and aggression? for sure russia will now conclude the great patriotic war on its terms and nobody else’s. zzz
ukraine will cease to exist by the time these pilots are ready in a year of training.
once people in the west are seeing a lot of footage of their own equipment, planes and tanks getting destroyed and joining the scrapheap, the calls to abandon ukraine will grow. this part of the conflict is really the part where the west gets demoralised and “this is about our lack resolve” becomes “this is about our failed technology” and the west will withdraw to develop new weapons after they have all failed.
yes a lie. the real ”nazi’ is talmudic jewry–ashke(nazi)?…there just ‘projecting’ as usual as always
it’s not the jets per se but the insanity of the western establishment that is committed to escalating the crises to the nuclear threshold. the jets don’t mean as much as the continuing insanity that keeps poking at putin to react without reason. that will not work.
f-16’s in ukraine? who will pilot them? ukrainians? i doubt it as it takes years to train one pilot and years to train those who maintenance the planes. so what are we dealing with here? what we have is the potential for qualified “pilots for hire” (nato pilots) with a lot of money for those stupid enough to take the offer. yep, nato flying us made planes to attack where,what?