“I am writing to express the United States’ full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors […] It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty” said Blinken.
Will this solidify a Ukrainian victory?
U.S. officials have privately said that F-16 jets would have been of little help to Ukraine in its current counteroffensive and will not be a game changer when they eventually arrive given Russian air defense systems and contested skies over Ukraine
Or will Russian radar and missle systems tear them up?
europeans insisting they’re independent countries but they need Uncle Sam’s permission to send their own military hardware anywhere 🤔
Still contains secrets that the US doesn’t want to fall in to the hands of her enemies. I’m sure part of the purchasing agreement is non-transfer clauses and the such to limit the risk. That said Ukraine should’ve had access to these last year
The first F-16 flew in 1974, half a century ago. Considering how widely they’ve been used, no one is going to learn anything significant if a few more are shot down or captured.
Which is going to happen 30s after getting into country. The weapons trickle is a cruel joke at this point. The last Ukrainian to die is going to be in an Abrahams.
europeans do not need uncle sams permission to send their own military hardware anywhere, they need uncle sams permission to send US patented and classified materials anywhere
similar to how the US needs permission to send [european country here]'s patented and classified materials anywhere
How fucking long have they been saying Ukraine will get F-16? The war will end before they get them! It’s likely they won’t be operational in Ukraine before 2025.
Did they solve the issue of F16s needing pristine runways to take off and land? Russia as been able to damage Patriot AA in the heart of Kiev months ago so any airstrip in Ukraine is basically a sitting duck. A kinzal missile has an effective range 1.5-2x a F16 and all it has to hit is the runway to ground every f16 on an airbase. That said theyd still probably get more flight time than the average F35
