The Ukrainian military will need to neutralize Russian air defense systems from the rear in order to use Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets.
This is according to a recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) following confirmation that the first batch of the fourth-generation aircraft has finally arrived in Kyiv.
The Washington, DC-based think tank acknowledges that the F-16s will be an attractive target for Moscow, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov already saying rewards are up for grabs for anyone who can neutralize the American aircraft.
Because of that, the ISW is urging Ukraine to use its long-range weapons to destroy Russian air defense assets before it flies its F-16s.
Moscow’s air defenses have been posing serious problems for Kyiv, enabling the invading forces to thwart Ukrainian drone strikes and neutralize multiple fighter jets.
‘Need a Substantial Number’
In a statement on X, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the country has received the F-16s, though he did not provide specific figures.
Two were immediately recognizable in a video he posted, but several reports indicate that Kyiv actually received 10 of the promised 79 jets.
Zelensky admitted that the numbers are not enough to fend off Russia and more training is needed to operate more of the American aircraft.
We are now in a new phase of development for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We have done a lot to transition the Ukrainian Air Force to a new aviation standard – Western combat aviation. From the beginning of this war, we have been talking with our partners about… pic.twitter.com/z21yTU0Hjo
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 4, 2024
The ISW echoed his statement, saying Kyiv “will need a substantial number of F-16s” to field them “at the scale necessary for Ukraine to succeed in integrating fixed-wing aircraft into its wider air defense umbrella.”
The war-torn nation is expected to receive 20 F-16 fighter jets by the end of the year.
