On the day Ukraine got its F-16 fighter jets, the news quickly made its way to newspapers’ front pages.
Officials described them as a “game-changer,” a move that could help Kyiv overthrow Moscow’s aerial dominance. But the truth is far more complicated.
It’s never an easy task to bring Western fighter jets into a hot war zone, and it’s going to be a while before the F-16 makes a difference.
The F-16 is a big step up from a technical standpoint. While the American jet provides Ukraine with acoustically efficient radar and a more complete set of weapons and fuel options, it puts its early MiG-29s and Su-27s pretty much on the same level.
Just having the aircraft is only half the job. Maneuvering them is entirely a different problem.
Most of the Ukrainian pilots fly aircraft that follow the designs of the USSR era, which do not have fly-by-wire systems, so switching to the F-16 means that they have to learn not only the flight control system but also the cockpit layout.
They have to do a task which would normally require a lot of time, at least a few months, even years, of training; now they have to do it in a matter of weeks, and most of the time the instruction is in a foreign language as well.
Suppsystemsemss, such as infrastructure, only contribute to more problems. Fighter jets are highly maneuverable vehicles, but they still require a certain number of people to be well-maintained.
One must know that creating such a team takes time, and although Western contractors can temporarily alleviate the shortage, they can only do it for a certain period of time, and there are both operational and political factors that come into play.
It is also important to look at the numbers fothe r the limitations they impose, just like any other factor.
The first deliveries are going to be quimodsttdes, and the first batch of jets will match the number of 24 by the end of 2024.