this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2024
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Before their arrival, the Western warplanes had been held up by some as a potential war-winner that could turn the tide of the conflict in Kyiv’s favour.

“Often, we just don’t get the weapons systems at the time we need them – they come when they’re no longer relevant,” a Ukrainian high-ranking officer told the Politico news website.

“Every weapon has its own right time. F-16s were needed in 2023; they won’t be right for 2024.”

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[–] aaaaaaadjsf@hexbear.net 26 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Will Ukraine ever actually get the F-16s? Russian air defences have been preparing for their arrival. Would be ironic if all that work was done for nothing.

[–] multitotal@lemmygrad.ml 24 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Ukraine doesn't have the know-how or logistics to maintain F-16s, hence the long waiting period. Any airfields in Ukraine with F-16s are likely to get struck and destroyed quickly by Russia.

It is a repeat of the Leopard, Challenger, Abrams tanks. The West postponed sending them as long as possible because they knew they'd get destroyed and wouldn't live up to the hype. But boy did the hype feel good.

I'm guessing they're negotiating for Poland to fix/maintain F-16s to then transport them back to Ukraine because no way will they actually take-off and land in Poland. They do the same with Leopard tanks and Caesar SPGs, they get shipped to the EU for repairs. I imagine Poland is being difficult about it because of the protests and the unpopularity of supporting Ukraine military among the Polish population, hence the delay.

All of these deals and arrangements happen behind closed doors.

[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml 20 points 4 months ago

I’m guessing they’re negotiating for Poland to fix/maintain F-16s

Poland can't even maintain their own F16's, because the deal with US was so shitty that most of things above routine maintenance has to be done by US personnel and parts are apparently so expensive that around half up to 2/3rd are unable to flight with many being cannibalised for parts.

[–] ComradeSalad@lemmygrad.ml 13 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

Would they even face Russian air defense? F-16’s are fast and nimble interceptors and area defense fighters, meaning they would be in the rear defending against Russian CAS, bombers, cruise missiles, and drones. They are more a defensive weapon then an offensive one, and their offensive capabilities are not that strong since that’s not their foray. Yes you can strap bombs to them, but that’s not their purpose.

[–] Kaplya@hexbear.net 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

How can F-16s engage without getting into Russian air defense range?

Mavericks air to ground has a 20km range. AMRAAM air to air is about 100km.

A Russian S-400 has 400km operational range. At the start of the war, a S-400 in south Belarus turned on its radar for a few minutes and shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 all the way in Kyiv, which then crashed into an apartment building and the Ukrainians proceeded to blame the Russians for targeting civilian structures.

[–] keepcarrot@hexbear.net 2 points 4 months ago

Big fans of watching what Israel is doing and giving it a whirl

[–] Fapper_McFapper@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Ukraine sent a Cessna 152 packed to the gills with explosives and blew up one of their drone factories 800km from the front line. I don’t think they’ve prepared enough.

[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 4 months ago (2 children)

You think Russia routinely shots down random civilian planes just in case?

[–] ComradeSalad@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Shouldn’t they be extremely suspicious of an unscheduled random civilian plane crossing the border of an active war zone and refusing all radio contact while approaching a military base?