The first F-16 fighter jets have been delivered to Ukraine to help in its defence against the Russian invasion.
Some of the long-awaited ‘Fighting Falcon’ warplanes promised to Ukraine are now in the country, officials say, in a move that Kyiv hopes will boost its air force.
The F-16s have been on Ukraine’s wishlist since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022 due to their ability to carry out multiple types of missions.
The jets are equipped with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles.
“F-16s in Ukraine. Another impossible thing turned out to be totally possible,” Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on X.
Ukrainian pilots and ground staff have been in training with Ukraine’s Western allies for months in preparation for the arrival of the aircraft.
“F-16s bring just and lasting peace closer,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this year.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russian forces were prepared to shoot down Ukraine’s first batch of F-16 jets and the weapons will not be a “panacea” for Kyiv’s army.
What is the F-16 Fighting Falcon?
The F-16 is built by the American defence contractor Lockheed Martin and first entered service in 1978.
They can travel at speeds of up to 1,500mph and have a range of more than 2,000 miles.
The jets are known for their multi-role capability and radar.
They are operated by several countries other than the US, including Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark – some of whom have pledged to donate their aircraft to Ukraine.
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What impact will the F-16s have in Ukraine?
There has been speculation about how much impact the F-16s – which have been around for decades – will have in Ukraine.
Their arrival comes at a time when Russia has been making slow, incremental gains that are putting pressure on Ukrainian forces along the frontline.
The F-16s will enhance Ukraine’s military strength, especially by upgrading its air defences. But analysts say they won’t turn the tide of the war on their own.
The jets will likely have three core missions, according to Federico Borsari of the Centre for European Policy Analysis in Washington.
An explosion after a Russian drone is shot down in Kherson, Ukraine. Pic: Reuters
They will seek to intercept Russian missiles and drones that have relentlessly bombarded Ukraine, target enemy air defence systems and strike Russian troop positions and ammunition depots with air-to-ground missiles, he claimed.
“They will be able to affect some of the dynamics (of the war),” Mr Borsari said.
Commanding the skies is an essential part of a war’s ground campaign, as planes offer air cover to troops.
But supporting Ukrainian troop movements on the front line with ground attacks may be too risky for the F-16s, given Russia’s sophisticated air defence systems.
However, the F-16s will have a psychological effect on Russian pilots as well as providing a morale boost for Ukraine’s defenders.
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How will Russia react?
It’s likely that President Vladimir Putin will savour the image of destroying F-16s from NATO countries – something Russia has never done before.
Kremlin forces will likely try to destroy the F-16s on the ground with long-range missiles. They have already been targeting Ukraine’s limited number of suitable airfields.
The Ukrainians will need to keep the F-16s in hardened hangars, disperse them between various locations, be ready to take off quickly in the event of an air raid warning and use decoy model aircraft, analysts say.
In the air, the Ukrainian F-16s will be up against Russia’s formidable S-300 and S-400 mobile surface-to-air missile systems that can target multiple aircraft at a time.
Ukrainian forces have spent months seeking out, targeting and destroying Russian air defences in preparation for the arrival of the F-16s.
Russia’s Su-35 fighter jet will be one of the biggest threats to the F-16, Mr Borsari said. It has a long-range radar that allows it to track and engage up to eight targets at a time across a wide area.
Even so, the Russians are aware that they’ll be up against a more formidable aircraft than they have met so far in the war and will likely adopt a more careful approach.