Before their arrival, the Western warplanes had been held up by some as a potential war-winner that could turn the tide of the conflict in Kyiv’s favour.
“Often, we just don’t get the weapons systems at the time we need them – they come when they’re no longer relevant,” a Ukrainian high-ranking officer told the Politico news website.
“Every weapon has its own right time. F-16s were needed in 2023; they won’t be right for 2024.”
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Would they even face Russian air defense? F-16’s are fast and nimble interceptors and area defense fighters, meaning they would be in the rear defending against Russian CAS, bombers, cruise missiles, and drones. They are more a defensive weapon then an offensive one, and their offensive capabilities are not that strong since that’s not their foray. Yes you can strap bombs to them, but that’s not their purpose.
How can F-16s engage without getting into Russian air defense range?
Mavericks air to ground has a 20km range. AMRAAM air to air is about 100km.
A Russian S-400 has 400km operational range. At the start of the war, a S-400 in south Belarus turned on its radar for a few minutes and shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 all the way in Kyiv, which then crashed into an apartment building and the Ukrainians proceeded to blame the Russians for targeting civilian structures.
Big fans of watching what Israel is doing and giving it a whirl