Fighting Falcons arrive in the Ukraine
August 7, 2024
Ukraine has taken delivery of its first F-16 fighters. Their arrival was reported by multiple outlets from 31 July, 2024, and then, on 4 July (‘the Day of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’), the Office of the President of Ukraine released video and still photos of an induction ceremony at an unidentified base, attended by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“These jets are in our sky, and today you see them,” Zelenskyy noted as a pair of F-16s thundered overhead.
Ukraine’s new F-16s carry the heavy weight of a nation’s hopes and expectations. Even with the retrieval of aircraft from storage, Ukraine’s fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29s, Su-27s, Su-25s and Su-24s is dwindling, and is inadequate to counter larger numbers of more modern Russian fighters. The hope is that the F-16s will boost the capabilities of Ukraine’s air force, enhancing Ukraine’s air defence capabilities, especially in protecting population centres from Russian air and cruise missile attacks.
They may also help to defeat Russian glide bomb attacks against Ukrainian ground forces in the field, by pushing Russian Su-34 fighter bombers further back from the frontline. The F-16s could also fly close air support missions, attacking Russian ground forces. They might also fly deeper interdiction missions, into occupied and even Russian territory.
Ukrainian Navy Commander Oleksii Neizhpapa said that: “The inclusion of F-16s will challenge Russia’s dominance of the skies over the Black Sea.”
Supply of the F-16 was one of Ukraine’s early requests, but it has taken time to gain US authorisation for the transfer of the aircraft from NATO allies, even though they were in the process of being retired and replaced by the more modern F-35. US President Joe Biden authorised the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine in August 2023, and since then between 65-85 F-16s have been pledged by a number of NATO countries, including Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium. Some of these aircraft may remain in Denmark and/or Romania for training future Ukrainian aircrew.
Training aircrew for the new fighters has also been a pacing challenge. An international F-16 training coalition was formed during the Vilnius NATO summit in July 2023, with some 14 countries training Ukrainian pilots and technical staff – both converting existing frontline pilots and groundcrew, and training ab initio students.
President Zelenskyy’s new standard
In his announcement, President Zelenskyy said: “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 the need to close the Ukrainian sky from Russian missiles and aircraft. We have held hundreds of meetings and negotiations to strengthen the capabilities of our aviation, air defence, and Defence Forces. We often heard the word “impossible” in response, but we made possible what was our ambition, our defence need, and now – it is a reality in our sky. F-16s in Ukraine.
We ensured this. I am proud of all our guys who are skilfully mastering these aircraft and have already started using them for our country. I thank our team for this result. I thank all the partners who are truly helping with the F-16s, and the first countries that accepted our request for aircraft – Denmark, the Netherlands, the United States, – and all our partners, – we value your support. I wish our Air Force and all our warriors to feel the pride of Ukrainians in our combat aviation and to bring Ukraine the combat results that will bring our victory closer – our just peace for Ukraine.”
