Is Ukraine "clearing its nest" to welcome the F-16 "Peregrine Falcon"?

Ukraine may be targeting Russian air defenses before US-made F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets reach the front lines, according to a recent assessment of the Russia-Ukraine conflict by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

“Ukrainian forces may seek to actively degrade Russian air defenses before Ukraine receives a significant number of aircraft,” the Washington DC-based think tank said on June 12.

Kiev is about to receive its first long-awaited and promised F-16 fighter jets. Four countries – Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium – have pledged to supply dozens of the “Kestrels” to Ukraine to bolster the Eastern European country’s air power alongside its Soviet-era fighter fleet against the more powerful and outnumbered Russian aircraft.

“Ukrainian forces may be trying to weaken Russian air defenses ahead of the expected delivery of F-16 fighter jets,” ISW said, adding that if Ukraine’s move is successful, it could make better use of the jets, which are made by US defense giant Lockheed Martin.

This assessment by ISW is not without foundation. Mr. Frank Ledwidge, senior lecturer in Law and War Studies at the University of Portsmouth (UK) and a former British Army intelligence officer, once warned that the F-16 would certainly be “a magnet for Russian air defense forces and Russian aircraft”.

World - Is Ukraine — Ukraine's F-16s will certainly be "a magnet for Russian air defense forces and Russian aircraft." Photo: X/Twitter

Ukraine has launched a series of attacks on expensive Russian air defense facilities that could endanger its valuable fleet of F-16s as they take off. The Ukrainian military said on June 12 that its forces had destroyed S-300 and S-400 air defense radar systems during an overnight assault on Crimea.

Kiev said the systems were located near one of Russia’s military airfields, near the port city of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, where Ukraine has repeatedly attacked the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet. Russian military bloggers and Ukrainian sources reported that ATACMS missiles were used.

Earlier this week, Ukraine said it had “successfully attacked” a Russian S-400 air defense missile system near Dzhankoy – a key Russian road and rail hub in northern Crimea – and two S-300 systems near Chornomorske and Yevpatoria, in the western part of the peninsula. Russian military bloggers have suggested that ATACMS were used in the attacks.

Reports also indicate that Kiev partially destroyed an S-300 or S-400 air defense system in Russia's Belgorod region in early June. ISW noted that the loss of air defense capabilities in Belgorod, which overlooks Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, is believed to have prompted Russia to move its air defense systems from Crimea in recent weeks.

In another development, Ukraine said it damaged two advanced Russian Su-57 stealth fighters hundreds of miles inside Russian territory earlier this month.

The S-300 and S-400 air defense systems, along with the Su-57 (NATO code: Felon) jets, “are important Russian aviation and air defense assets, preventing Ukraine from maneuvering aircraft close to the front and supporting Russian offensive operations in Ukraine,” the ISW said in its assessment of the situation of hostilities released on June 12.

A senior Ukrainian aviation commander said earlier this week that Kiev would store some of its Western-funded F-16 fighter jets at “secure air bases” outside the country to avoid Russian attacks on the advanced aircraft.

The head of the Russian State Duma (lower house) Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, was quoted by Russian news agency RIA Novosti last week as warning that NATO bases hosting Ukrainian F-16s would be considered “legitimate targets” by Russian forces .

Minh Duc (According to Newsweek, RFE/RL)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/ukraine-dang-don-o-don-chim-cat-f-16-a668336.html