One of Ukraine’s senior air commanders stated that the country requires more F-16 fighter jets. He said they are “four or five times” more effective than the Soviet-era fighters they are currently using.
The donation of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter aircraft by allies was a “milestone. ” However, one of the most senior Air Force commanders, Serhiy Holubtsov, warned that the planes did not meet all of Ukraine’s tactical requirements.
Ukraine is preparing for a counteroffensive to reclaim territory captured by Russia, and Poland and Slovakia have recently begun transferring MiG-29 fighter jets.
Holubtsov responded that even with Soviet-era fighters, Russia’s massive air force would be insurmountable.
“The F-16 is a fighter that has evolved into a multirole aircraft, capable of conducting a multitude of aerial missions. Unfortunatelly, the MiG-29 is a twentieth-century aircraft “The announcement was made on primetime television.
Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Warsaw and stated that he expected Poland to play a leadership role in organizing a “coalition” of Western states that provide aircraft to Ukraine. Warsaw played a role in early this year’s tank supply mobilization.
During Zelenskiy’s tour, Poland guaranteed Ukraine ten more MiG-29s, in addition to the four it had previously provided.
The United States is the largest F-16 operator and manufacturer, so any coalition of F-16 contributors would rely heavily on its support.
According to U.S. officials, it would take at least 18 months to train and deploy F-16 aircraft to Ukraine, so Washington has ruled out deploying them at this time.
Holubtsov acknowledged that non-Ukrainian pilots could potentially operate Ukrainian fighters, but emphasized that such pilots would only be effective in aircraft for which they had prior instruction.
He stated that two Ukrainian pilots had completed tests to evaluate their abilities in the United States, and that the results had been “successful,” implying that the training period for Ukrainian pilots could be “considerably abridged.”
He did not provide an estimate for the duration of the new training period.
