Irina Pogorelaya 09:04, 29.07.24 – UNIAN
This year, Ukraine will receive only one F-16 squadron, about 20 fighters.
Only six Ukrainian pilots have completed training to fly the F-16 fighters , which are due to be delivered to Ukraine in August.
Overall, Ukraine will receive only one squadron of F-16s this year, about 20 fighters, which is much less than it had expected, The Telegraph writes .
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian military have expressed frustration with the delivery of Western fighter jets, saying they are too little, too late. They have noted that when the F-16s finally arrive in Ukraine, they will not be the decisive factor they had hoped.
One reason is that they will be deployed defensively, since Russia still controls the skies and has installed air defense systems along the front lines, putting the F-16s at risk. “We won’t fly fighters too close to the Russians because of the air defense threat,” one Ukrainian official said.
The publication noted that, for example, the Russian propaganda Telegram channel Fighterbomber, which specializes in aviation, has already rushed to state that with six pilots, Ukraine will only be able to deploy two fighters at a time, because “a pilot cannot work around the clock.”
“Two pilots are a maximum of 10 combat sorties per day in total. For all of Ukraine, 10 F-16 sorties are nothing,” Fighterbomber stated.
F-16 for Ukraine
For two years, Ukrainian authorities have been asking their Western allies for F-16 fighters to counter Russian dominance of the skies.
A total of 80 F-16 fighters were promised to Ukraine by Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium. However, the matter of their delivery has been delayed for so long that they may become useless, although great hopes were previously placed on them. Some military experts even predicted that the use of these fighters could turn the tide of the war.
I read this article yesterday. James Kilner is a respected journalist, so it’s likely to be factually accurate.
I didn’t post it because I found it to be deeply, profoundly depressing and hoped it was wrong. After all the hope and expectation, it’s such a massive letdown and terrible for Ukraine.
Once again the allies failed Ukraine.
The above is only a précis version. I can post the whole thing if anyone wants it.
Warning : it’s a big fucking downer.
At least 6 have graduated in the U.S. with 6 more supposedly graduating before years end, what about pilots trained in other countries. Potential candidates could also do language courses online which would speed something’s up. This is still ridiculous when Ukraine needs 120 strong force at least.
2 and half years of delays/interference by the Biden corrupt administration, which leads to more killing of Ukrainians
I don’t know about corrupt. In order to be corrupt, I believe one needs intelligence, which is significantly lacking in this administration.
Yes…but the laptop, which they all lied about and now they say ls real, shows the lies. They’ve been lying to Ukraine for 2.5 years too.
Ukraine has been fighting like a lion against an overwhelming enemy, but the same can’t be said about the bag of marshmallows that makes up the West. It’s been one loser decision after another. It’s too bad, because this war could’ve been over more than a year ago.
The F-16 situation is just another example of a loser performance by the collective losers.
Thanks, Sir Bill.
Iron Maiden has always been one of the top favorite bands for me.
You’re welcome Sir Facts, this guy did it very well in his own style.
Yes, he did. And he seems to appreciate good music, even if it’s heavy metal.
It could be even worse than you think. The F16 takes two pilots to fly the plane, meaning Ukraine might only have 3 planes in the air at any given time.
Wonderful. A bad circus show has more substance than what our politicians have in their skulls.
👍 yes
Let’s see here , Ukraine is getting a squadron of 20 planes and only had 6 pilots capable of flying these. So where do you get corruption or that Biden is weak. I could say the same about Ukraine, your military is stronger that it has ever been before and still losing ground , Ukrainian pilots don’t have what it takes to fly a F16 and only a limited number of pilots (6) have been able to successfully pass the program out of 10, or a 60% pass rate. Yet Ukraine wants more planes but doesn’t have the pilots. 4 more are expected to graduate soon , giving Ukraine a total of 10 pilots to fly a squadron of 20 planes.
That’s a load of horseshit. Ukraine sent 24pilota to the US and I believe 30 or so dispersed in Denmark Netherlands and Belgium. The US was exceedingly slow blaming the Ukrainian pilots learning English was difficult. Well here’s the part that’s bullshit, all pilots in Ukraine must learn English in order to receive their certs. So I leave it to you…the US was bullshitting which is their characteristic since the beginning of the war