Ukraine - F-16 - Aircraft - 2022
Ukraine wants the help to be able to defend itself. Based on public reporting, neither the Ukrainians nor the Russians had established air superiority. The US and NATO allies can help Ukraine change the situation in the air domain and give Ukrainian forces a decisive advantage in the war.
The defense of freedom in Eastern Europe is at stake here, but so is, really, the stability of all of Europe. What happens in Ukraine does affect the cause of freedom more broadly. Ukraine is just the first step and wants to recreate the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union. China is eyeing a potential military assault on Taiwan. Israel continues to face threats from Iran and others in the Middle East.
Eventually, the Royal Air Force defeated Hitler's onslaught against innocent civilians in what is called the Battle of Britain and ensured that the country would survive the war. Today, just as then, there is another indiscriminate bombing campaign going on, this time in Ukraine against civilians and civilian infrastructure. Ukraine is now fighting its own Battle of Britain.
There are about 50 countries helping Ukraine on the military side. Ukraine and NATO officially signed a joint declaration for defense cooperation in September 2015. Ukraine planned to increase its military budget by approximately 30 percent with a focus on air defense. Ukraine needed to focus on rebuilding from various crises and recent conflicts, in which it lost half of its fighter jets.
All the free world is stepping up to help, but America leads, and needs to provide Ukraine with more of the weapons that Ukraine says they actually need, like the Patriot missiles. But, also, they have asked for fourth-generation fighter jets, like the F-16 or similar European models. They are in Europe already. The US provided them to European countries, but the US has to sign off for the European countries or other countries to provide them to Ukraine. Ukraine needs better aircraft to be able to clear its skies of these Russian missiles and the Russian drones, many of which are now being procured from Iran. And if Russian missiles are now striking NATO territory, then it is clearly in NATO's interest to provide these aircraft to Ukraine. The planes don't have to come from the United States. They may well come from other allies. But the F-16s or F-15s that would be especially useful in this situation would probably have to be approved by the United States before any conveyance could occur.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker and Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine, sent a letter to Congress on 08 March 2022 stating Ukraine needs additional aircraft.
In April 2022 the Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) released a public statement that emphasized the critical need for air assets: "Air superiority is the deciding factor in the war. Air superiority has played a key role in all wars since WWII... Ukraine's air force cannot close the sky over Ukraine or gain air superiority due to a large discrepancy in equipment and technologies.... "To date, our allies have not answered our call for air defense support (fighter jets and SAM).... "In the sky, the greatest need is for fighter jets - F-15s and F-16s of the fourth generation or higher would be sufficient; Ukrainian pilots can learn to fly these with just 2-3 weeks of training."
The F-16, which is one of the most mass-produced aircraft in its class in the world, is much needed at this stage. Ukraine will be able to service it, and thanks to its Western partners, it will not experience a shortage of ammunition. Gripen or Eurofighter [fighter jets made and used in European military forces] are more resistant to Ukrainian airfield infrastructure, but for all that, they are not mass-produced. There is no, let's say, "secondary market' for such aircraft in the world.
By September 2022 Ukraine had stopped publicly asking for high-end U.S. weapons such as Patriot air defense systems, F-16 fighter jets and Gray Eagle drones. But behind the scenes, the push hadn't stopped for weapons that could turn the tide of the war. The change from a public campaign to a private one came as advisers grew concerned that the requests for high-end weapons were a distraction from Kyiv's more immediate battlefield needs.
By September 2022 Ukraine was privately negotiating with the United States for the supply of F-16 fighter jets, as well as air defense systems and drones. In addition to fighters, Ukraine is interested in Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems and MQ-1C Gray Eagle combat drones. According to representatives of the Ukrainian government, the Pentagon and defense industry leaders, the parties are discussing whether to transfer all of the aforementioned weapons to Ukraine, as the terms of long-term agreements on the financing of these weapons are still being negotiated.
"In recent weeks, there has been a shift from loud calls to provide air defense systems and fighter jets to more 'quiet' talks. The campaign was led by Zelensky's advisers, who received friendly advice from the Biden administration itself to focus more on what Ukraine needs right now to push the Russians out of the occupied territories in the east and south," the newspaper writes. At the same time, the publication draws attention to the great demand for F-16 fighters from the US allies, but Kyiv "probably will receive them when the war is already over."
On 16 November 2022 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed his solidarity with Poland and suggested convening an urgent NATO summit. He considers it right to provide Ukraine with modern F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as air defense systems, as one of the further joint actions.
"Ukraine reaffirms its full solidarity with Poland and stands ready to provide any necessary support. Collective response to Russian actions must be tough and principled. Among immediate actions: a NATO summit with Ukraine's participation to craft further joint actions which will force Russia to change its course on escalation, providing Ukraine with modern aircraft such as F-15 and F-16, as well as air defense systems, so that we can intercept any Russian missiles. Today, protecting Ukraine's skies means protecting," Kuleba wrote.
On 29 November 2022, Mykhailo Podoliak, the Adviser to the Head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, urged the World to supply Ukraine with desperately needed state-of-art weapon to support Ukrainian nations getting ready to survive the harshest winter in history. In particular, Podoliak urged to provide Ukraine with Patriot air defence systems, F-16 fighter jets and Leopard tanks.
"No eloquent speech will say more than concrete action. "Patriot", "F-16", or "Leopard" for Ukraine it's not only about air defense or a tank, but also an important support act for people preparing to survive their harshest winter and paying the highest price for Europe's security", the Adviser wrote.
According to Republican senator Jim Risch, ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he himself supports the provision of fighter jets to Ukraine, but there is still no majority among Congress members. Risch shared this in an interview 21 November 2022 with "European Pravda" on the sidelines of the Halifax Security Forum, attending it as the head of the American Congress delegation. He noted that air control is necessary for Ukraine to win the war.
"I'm probably at the world's robust end of the spectrum. If it was up to me, fighter jets would be important, training the pilots would be important. I hear people say: "Oh, you can't do that because you're going to escalate the war.' Look when we fought in Vietnam and in Korea, the Russians supplied jets and supplied pilots to the other side. It's time to return the favour. I met with the pilots from Ukraine. I believe they can fly our F-16. It's going to take them some training. I don't think flying them is as much of a problem as operating the avionics and the battle systems in the airplane" noted Jim Risch.
"I think that the F-16 would be a weapon that could be used. I have to say I'm in the minority on that. I don't think that there is a majority that believes that."
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