US Sends Weapons for F-16s To Ukraine, Advancing Its Air Attack

US BOLSTERS Ukraine’s Air Fleet

The US will provide cutting-edge, American-made weaponry to the fleet of F-16s traveling to Ukraine from other European nations, allaying concerns about the source of ordnance for the potentially revolutionary fighter jets.

 

About 80 of the fourth-generation fighters are expected to be sent to the beleaguered nation, which has been valiantly fending off a Russian invasion for the past two years, by Denmark, Belgium, Norway, and the Netherlands.

 

However, it remained unclear if the Pentagon intended to arm the aircraft. It appears that the Wall Street Journal has provided an answer to that question.

 

A senior US source told the newspaper, “We are confident that we will be able to supply all of those [weapons], at least the critical volumes that they need.”

 

AGM-88 HARM air-to-ground missiles, small-diameter bombs with a narrow blast radius, and long-range Joint Direct Attack Munition kits—which turn so-called “dumb” bombs into smart weapons—are among the weaponry the Pentagon intends to deliver to Ukraine.

 

According to the Journal, it will also launch medium- and short-range air-to-air missiles.

 

Espen Barth Eide, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, called it “a significant addition.” “It’s not altering the war by itself.”

 

But as one Norwegian military official put it, it wouldn’t do much good without American firepower.

 

Of course, there are still a lot of difficulties, such as finding a means to operate the aircraft without breaking tight American regulations, maintaining the aircraft, and training enough pilots, according to the Journal.

The process of training has been dispersed across multiple nations, and the current shortage of Ukrainian pilots restricts the number of F-16s that can be dispatched to the beleaguered nation.

 

According to the site, the US intends to increase training chances by allowing Ukrainian pilots to hone their skills on US bases. In addition, those pilots will receive significantly less training than their colleagues in the West; instead of taking four years to master everything, those pilots will just need to learn it in a year.

 

Furthermore, the US official stated that “these guys are going to go straight into combat” rather than spending time with their unit before deployment.

 

Another challenge is maintenance since the Ukrainians will require a supply of replacement components to repair jets that break or malfunction for various reasons. Concerns have also been raised over the planes’ intended employment against the Russians.

 

Ukraine wants to shoot into Russia from its aircraft, but US officials believe that’s not possible because of the nation’s surface-to-air missile defenses.

 

According to the Journal, Kyiv will only be permitted to employ the new weapons on Russian soil in retaliation for cross-border attacks.

 

Concerns have also been raised concerning their potential dual purpose: either as ground support for Ukrainian forces operating on the ground or as interceptors chasing down Russian aircraft and driving Moscow’s air force back from the front.