Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the U.S. military in South Korea staged an “Elephant Walk” that included a large number of F-16 Fighting Falcon jets. It was a month ago that a similar show of force was staged in New Mexico. The F-16 remains one of the most widely employed jet fighter aircraft in the world, and it has a proven combat record.
Multirole Fighter
Though initially designed as an air superiority fighter, the Fighting Falcon quickly evolved into a successful all-weather multirole combat aircraft that has seen service around the world.
During Operation Desert Storm, the F-16 flew more sorties than any other aircraft, and it was used to attack airfields, military production facilities, Scud missile sites, and a variety of other targets. The F-16 further served as a major component of the combat forces committed to the war on terrorism flying thousands of sorties in support of operations Noble Eagle (Homeland Defense), Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Iraqi Freedom.
Ukraine Wants the F-16
All of those cited factors help explain why Ukraine has sought to acquire the Fighting Falcon to help it secure victory in its ongoing conflict. Earlier this month, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands announced they would work together to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the Lockheed Martin-produced F-16, while the Netherlands further signaled it would supply Kyiv with an undisclosed number of its active and retired Fighting Falcons after the training is completed.
According to figures from the Dutch Ministry of Defense, which were cited by Reuters, the Netherlands currently has twenty-four operational F-16s, which will be phased out by mid-2024. An additional eighteen of the jets are currently available for sale, of which a dozen have been provisionally sold. The Biden Administration has endorsed the training programs, and announced it wouldn’t veto any efforts to provide the fighters to Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly assured U.S. President Joe Biden that any F-16s provided to Kyiv’s military would not be used to cross into Russian territory.
Though the F-16 first entered service in the late 1970s, the aircraft that could be transferred to Ukraine likely date to the 1980s; and those Fighting Falcons have received a significant number of updates including modern computers, wiring and digital databases that would make them fully compatible with the latest aerial munitions.
Numbers Could Still Matter
Ukrainian officials have claimed to need around 100 Western-made fighters to help it gain air superiority in the skies. The F-16s have been seen as the best choice for Ukraine, but the Eurofighter and Swedish JAS-39 Gripen have also been named as fighters that could be provided to the Ukrainian Air Force.
“My dream would be to have them for the end of the year,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told French daily Ouest-France and Germany’s Funke Media Group in a joint interview, per Newsweek. Earlier this year, Kyiv had said it would require around 200 Western fighter jets to counter Russia’s air capabilities, but any F-16s could make a difference.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned just last week that the jets would not be “magic weapons” for Ukraine, while aviation experts have noted that any F-16s provided to Kyiv would require additional infrastructure as well as extensive training, and could make the bases key targets.
Pricey Warbird?
Cost is an issue too – and the aircraft would be a far larger and more expensive commitment for the West than providing tanks or other ground-based systems. Just ten F-16s could have a billion-dollar price tag while keeping the aircraft in service could double that figure.
Russia also has a large air force, so Ukraine would need a significant number of fighters to counter the threat from Kremlin aircraft. Yet, even a few F-16s could help tip the scales a bit in Ukraine’s favor.
It is likely for those reasons that Moscow has already suggested the sending of any F-16 aircraft or other Western aircraft would be an “unacceptable escalation.” Perhaps this is just proof that the Kremlin actually fears facing the Fighting Falcon in the skies over Ukraine.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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