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Yuri Ihnat: This fall and winter we will not be able to protect Ukraine with F-16s
, 11:26, 17.08.2023
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
It is already obvious that this fall and winter we will not be able to protect Ukraine with F-16 aircraft, said the spokesman of the Ukrainian Air Force Yuri Ihnat, quoted by "Ukrainska Pravda".
F-16s will change the balance of power.
Yuri Ihnat noted that Kyiv had high hopes for Western warplanes that would help defend the Ukrainian skies against Russian missiles.
In the second half of July, there were strong signals from the USA about the possibility of handing over the planes soon. "The F-16s will probably reach Ukraine by the end of the year. But we don't think that only the F-16s will be able to change the situation", said John Kirby, spokesman for the US Security Council, in an interview with Fox News at the time. national.
The Ukrainians are already aware that their air force will not be strengthened by the end of the year.
"It is already obvious that we will not be able to defend Ukraine with F-16s this fall or winter," Ihnat said.
Pilot training
A spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force admitted that the F-16 case "has moved on". - We know that our pilots will be training in the near future. But at the same time, we need to strengthen our anti-aircraft defenses, he said.
A few days ago, the "Washington Post", citing sources in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, reported that the first group of pilots who have been delegated to training on multirole F-16s will not complete them before the summer of 2024.
Ministers from 11 NATO countries established a coalition at the North Atlantic Alliance summit in Vilnius in July to train Ukrainian pilots and mechanics in the use and maintenance of F-16 aircraft.
Aircraft Coalition
The coalition seeking to provide Ukraine with fourth-generation aircraft is led by the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The first of these countries is replacing its F-16 fleet with more modern aircraft, and the second declares assistance in training pilots. According to media reports, Denmark is also ready to hand over its machines.
Belgium and Norway are also to participate in the coalition. At the moment, there is no exact information on how many F-16s will end up in the hands of the Ukrainians. However, according to experts, Amsterdam and Copenhagen could hand over about 30 planes in a short time.
