The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to defend against Russian invaders as soon as pilot training is completed, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

“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?

  • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    52·
    1 year ago

    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