How F-16 Deliveries Can Boost Ukraine's Counteroffensive

The transfer to Kyiv of American-made F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands will boost Ukraine's attempts to recapture Russian-occupied territory, a former U.S. major-general has said.

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that the U.S.-made aircraft would be made available to Kyiv when Ukrainian pilots were fully trained to operate them, which would allow its forces to take "full advantage of its new capabilities."

Denmark and the Netherlands own the aircraft, but because the planes are U.S.-made, deliveries must be approved by Washington.

The Dutch are believed to have 24 F-16s which will be taken out of service and replaced by more advanced war planes. Denmark is also planning an upgrade of its fleet of some 30 F-16s.

The U.S. had been reluctant to provide Ukraine with the planes which are more advanced than the predominantly Soviet-era aircraft that Kyiv has been using, for fear of being seen to escalate the war which Vladimir Putin started.

In May, President Joe Biden reversed the stance by announcing the U.S. would allow their delivery from European allies, as well as facilitate training.

Friday's announcement was praised by Ukraine although it is expected to be months before they can use the F-16s to counter Russia's air superiority.

"If provided in sufficient numbers and with sufficient speed, (these) fighter jets would enable Ukraine to defend and regain occupied territory, " Maj-Gen (rtd.) Gordon B. "Skip" Davis Jr. said in emailed comments to Newsweek.

Western fighter jets like F-16s have better radar, avionics and guidance systems than their Russian counterparts. They can be armed with precision-guided missiles and bombs and are able to fly at 1,500 miles per hour. Their targeting capabilities would allow Ukraine to attack Russian forces in all conditions with greater accuracy.

Davis, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said that the Western aircraft acting in an air interdiction or ground support role "would provide much-needed standoff strike capability to support defensive and counter-offensive operations."

They could target Russia's command and communications, logistical supplies, air defense and electronic warfare capabilities. "Fighter jets in an air defense or air-to-air role can defeat Russian MiGs and with the right radar and munitions can defeat drones and cruise missiles," Davis said.

"Incoming Western combat vehicles, long-range fires, and air defense systems, along with fighter jets would enable a successful counter-offensive to regain Ukraine's territory," he added.

Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, said on Friday the F-16s will be better suited for the Western-made weapons but were "not going to be the silver bullet and all of a sudden they're going to start taking down" Russia's S-400 air-defense system.

Hecker told a Defense Writers Group event that training had begun with young pilots but that it "all is going to take time" and that it would "at least until next year until you see F-16s in Ukraine," Business Insider reported.

It comes amid concern at the slow pace of gains in Ukraine's counteroffensive which it launched around June 4 to recapture Russian-occupied territory. U.S. intelligence does not believe that Kyiv's push will manage to reach the key southeastern city of Melitopol, The Washington Post reported on Friday, citing anonymous sources, meaning that Ukraine will not achieve its main aim of severing Russia's land bridge to Crimea.

However, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Post this week that the counteroffensive would be "long, bloody and slow" but touted Kyiv's success in degrading Russian forces. "The Russians are in pretty rough shape," he said. "They've suffered a huge amount of casualties."