US agrees to equip Ukraine's F-16s with advanced weapons

Green light signal from the Pentagon

Denmark and the Netherlands are preparing to send the first US-made F-16s to Ukraine this summer, with more to follow from Belgium and Norway. But so far, the supply of crucial weapons for these fighters has not been resolved.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sit in an F-16 at a Danish air base in August 2023. Photo: New York Times

A senior US official told the Wall Street Journal that although the Pentagon currently has only limited weapons production and stockpiling capabilities, it will still provide the F-16s with air-to-ground munitions, precision guidance kits for bombs and advanced air-to-air missiles in sufficient quantities to meet Ukraine's most urgent needs.

“We are confident that we will be able to provide all of those weapons, at least in the critical mass that they need,” the official said.

The F-16 is one of the most prestigious weapons the West has provided Ukraine as it seeks to turn around Russia’s gains on the battlefield. But to fight, these planes need weapons.

"The F16s themselves, despite their many powerful features, would be worthless without weapons," said Major General Rolf Folland, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.

The weapons the US is sending for the F-16s include the AGM-88 HARM air-to-ground missile; long-range versions of the Joint Direct Attack Munition, which converts unguided bombs into smart weapons; and so-called “small diameter bombs with a narrow blast radius.” In addition, the US will send the AMRAAM advanced medium-range air-to-air missile, and the AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missile for the F-16s.

In Europe, many countries are reluctant to send large amounts of their limited arsenals of air-launched weapons to Kiev. So the allies have come up with what the Pentagon calls a “start-up” solution. A US official said the solution would involve European countries pooling money to buy US air-launched weapons to send to Ukraine.

But who will operate the F-16s?

But arming the F-16s is just one of many challenges the Ukrainians will face when they receive the aircraft. The planes, which will eventually number around 80, will not be delivered all at once. Denmark’s aircraft, for example, will be delivered in eight-month increments.

The US and its allies have refused to provide a specific timeline for these aircraft and weapons due to security concerns.

An F-16 fighter jet fires an AGM-88 HARM air-to-ground missile with a range of 25-300 km. Photo: Breaking Defence

Ukrainian officials have expressed gratitude to allies for providing the F-16s, but have privately complained that their delivery of the aircraft, like much other Western aid, came too late, in too small a quantity and with too many restrictions for Kiev to significantly alter the balance of the battlefield.

Once the F-16s arrived, the next hurdle was ensuring there were enough pilots and maintenance personnel to operate them.

Training for the F-16 is a complex process, and is being conducted in multiple countries. Some Ukrainian pilots are starting their English language training in the UK and France, two countries that have never flown the F-16. Flight training is taking place in the US, Romania and Denmark, but the Danish facility will close this fall to train on the advanced F-35 fighter jet that will replace the country’s F-16s.

Ukrainian officials have pushed for more aircraft to be delivered as soon as possible and have asked the US to expand its training capabilities. But the number of Ukrainian pilots who can begin training is a significant limiting factor in how many aircraft can be sent.

Still, the Pentagon is looking at whether it can expand the training program in the United States, either at an existing facility in Arizona or by allowing Ukrainian pilots to use other U.S. air bases.

Maintenance is also a challenge

F-16 maintenance in Ukraine is also expected to be difficult. The Ukrainians will need a steady supply of spare parts for maintenance, which will in turn complicate other Western arms donations, from mortars to tanks.

The current plan is for Ukrainian personnel, who are training to maintain the F-16, to do most of the maintenance work domestically. Higher-level work, such as engine maintenance, will initially need to be done overseas, according to a Pentagon official. There are also ongoing discussions about European countries sending contractors to help maintain the F-16.

Most F-16 repairs can be done close to the combat zone, but Ukraine will eventually need domestic engine repair facilities, a U.S. defense executive said. It is unclear how Kiev will build such a facility. But for now, Ukraine says it will store some of its aircraft abroad.

Even if pilot training and maintenance procedures were determined, there would still be significant risks in putting the aircraft into combat, especially since Ukrainian pilots were accustomed to flying Soviet jets.

Full training for a NATO F-16 pilot takes more than four years, while Ukrainian pilots only have one year to learn. Photo: USAF

It typically takes a Danish F-16 pilot more than four years to fully train. According to a U.S. official familiar with the matter, the Ukrainian pilots took about a year. And unlike U.S. F-16 pilots, who typically spend at least a year in their units training before going into combat, “these Ukrainian pilots will be going into combat right away,” the U.S. official said, noting the differences.

It is also unclear how the F-16s would be used against Russian forces. Washington will likely restrict Ukraine from using US-supplied weapons to attack Russian territory, as it has requested with other weapons supplied to Kiev, a White House official said.

Of course, Ukrainian pilots would want to fly their F-16s to the border and fire advanced U.S.-supplied weapons into Russian territory. But even if they were to flout the U.S. ban and risk doing so, according to a Pentagon official, that tactic is not practical in the current climate given the overwhelming threat posed by Russian surface-to-air missiles.

U.S. officials say the most effective use of the F-16 in Ukraine is in close air support missions, or destroying ground threats to troops on the front lines. Europeans, on the other hand, say the F-16 could be used for air defense and potentially help push Russian air forces back toward the front lines.

“The F-16 is not a silver bullet,” said Major General Rolf Folland, commander-in-chief of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. “But if you have F-16s with advanced long-range weapons, you can push the Russian air force further away. And that is probably the most important thing for Ukraine right now.”

Quang Anh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/my-dong-y-trang-bi-vu-khi-tien-tien-cho-f-16-cua-ukraine-post306290.html