War

Seleznev: “The provided F-16s do not solve air defence problems”

ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ

Despite the fact that the first F-16s promised to Ukraine have arrived, Russian missiles continue to hit Ukrainian targets. Komersant ukrainskyi asked military expert Vladyslav Selezniov whether the new aircraft had any impact on the state of Ukraine’s air defence.

The expert noted that just the other day, the president once again drew attention to the fact that our Western partners, despite promising to supply an additional 6 powerful air defence systems, have not yet done so. This means that the issue of air defence systems has not been resolved at all, and there is a critical shortage of them to ensure the protection of all strategic facilities in the country. And F-16s can “close” certain areas, but their capabilities are also limited, especially given the number of aircraft delivered.

“Of course, they [F-16s] are used to perform certain air defence tasks. But if there is a massive missile and drone attack, there is no single and unique defence against it. Only a comprehensive combination of different components allows you to be effective on the battlefield,” he

– he said.

The Ukrainian government has not disclosed the number of aircraft already delivered to Ukraine, but according to The Economist, there were 10, and no more than 20 F-16s are expected by the end of the year. According to The New York Times, which cites US officials, the situation is even worse: Ukraine will be able to use no more than 10 of these fighters on the battlefield this year.

Selezniov argues that this number of US aircraft can only cover one small area of the country:

“Yes, this number of aircraft will allow us to strengthen one of the areas. For example, they can be actively used in the south of our country. But 10 or even 20 planes will not be enough to ensure 100% protection of our airspace.”

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According to the expert, President Zelensky previously mentioned the number of F-16s Ukraine needs – about 130 aircraft. However, it is still unclear how many of these fighters have already been delivered. Therefore, Selezniov concluded, without the additional air defence systems promised to Ukraine, the situation with enemy shelling is unlikely to change significantly.

F-16 for Ukraine

The United States has led the Ukrainian Air Force Development Capability Coalition in operating F-16 multi-role fighters. The Netherlands and Denmark became co-chairs.

In August last year, Denmark and the Netherlands promised to provide Ukraine with 61 F-16 fighters. However, on 20 August 2023, after talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would receive a total of 42 American F-16s.

In order for the delivery to begin, it was necessary for Ukrainian pilots and maintenance personnel to be trained and for Ukraine to prepare the infrastructure. As reported by , in May, the first group of Ukrainian pilots completed their F-16 training in the US and travelled to Europe.

Although the first aircraft have already arrived, things will not move quickly in the future. For example, Belgium plans to deliver most of the aircraft in 2025.

In total, Ukraine has been promised more than a hundred F-16s, but at some point.