Summary and Key Points: Ukraine has received another tranche of Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets, bolstering its air capabilities amid ongoing conflict with Russia.
-President Zelensky emphasized these jets had not been shot down, countering recent Russian claims.
-Ukraine’s existing fleet of F-16s has already seen action, engaging both air and ground targets.
-Despite promising initial results, Ukraine’s air force still faces significant challenges: needing more jets, extensive pilot training, and robust logistical support to significantly impact the war.
-Effective deployment strategies, including distributed airbases and comprehensive support networks, are crucial for the F-16 fleet to enhance Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from Russian attacks.
More F-16 Fighters Are Now in Ukraine
A new tranche of F-16 fighter jets has arrived in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly told journalists last week.
“Additional F-16s have arrived in Ukraine. The Russians are lying that they shot down something there, they didn’t shoot down anything. And the good news is that several F-16s have arrived in Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
Last week, Russian media channels claimed that Russian forces had managed to down a Ukrainian-piloted fighters in the Sumy region, which borders Russia. However, Yuriy Ignat, head of the communications department of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, called the claim propaganda.
“The F-wing pilots once again successfully worked out their routines today. And so every day, combat work continues,” Ignat said.
F-16 Club for Ukraine
In 2023, Ukraine and its allies formed an F-16 aviation coalition aimed at sending Western F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. And according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine needs at least 128 F-16 fighters.
The first of the Western F-16 fighters arrived in Ukraine in 2024 — but it is not known for certain how many aircraft Ukraine received. The first F-16s were transferred to Ukraine by the Netherlands and Denmark last year. Belgium will transfer 30 F-16 fighters to Ukraine by the end of 2028, and Ukrainian pilots are already training on F-16s, which takes place in the United States and other countries allied with Ukraine.
President Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have asked for F-16s since the early days of the Russian full-scale invasion in February of 2022, though the first jets did not arrive in-country until August of last year.
The F-16s that Ukraine does currently operate have been used both offensively, against Russian soldiers and targets along the front line, as well as defensively, to take down drones and cruise missiles, which Russia launches against civilian targets and energy infrastructure with regularity.
Curtain Raiser
First, the Ukrainian Air Force recently released a video interview with an F-16 pilot, in which the pilot talks about the conditions of flying. His name, face, and callsign are withheld for security reasons.
“Ukrainian pilots flying Western fighters show excellent results in combat operations against air and ground targets,” the video description, translated from Ukrainian, says. “An F-16 pilot talks about combat missions, tactics, and a powerful team that has successfully mastered Western equipment and new approaches to its use.”
“The aviation equipment provided by our partners and the training of the flight crew allow us not only to use the means of destruction against enemy air and ground targets, but also to save the lives of our pilots, to withdraw the aircraft from enemy missiles…” it added.
Western Jets in Ukraine
Ukrainian F-16s are launching from small, distributed networks, sometimes in tandem with French-supplied Dassault Mirage 2000 jets, to detect Russian radar and drop precision weaponry. Aerial reconnaissance is a crucial mission for the Ukrainian fighters, the pilot explained.
However, it will be some time before Western-supplied aircraft have a widespread effect on Ukraine’s war effort. Together, Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Norway have pledged about 85 older surplus F-16s, but Ukraine has received only around 16 aircraft, plus the aforementioned Mirage 2000s. In order to really control the airspace above Ukraine and hold the front line and areas behind it at risk, the Ukrainian Air Force’s fleet of jets would have to increase significantly.
In addition, Ukraine would need to have not only enough aircraft but also a fairly robust support network that would include quality — not expedited — pilot training, effective integration of command and control, effective negation of enemy air defenses, and the support via spare parts, fuel logistics and maintainer training from Western partner countries.
Pilot training is hugely important. The U.S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command explains that “F-16 students begin their journey into F-16 being inundated with a crushing load of classroom academics that doesn’t abate through the duration of the 7 month course.”
“Nearly the entire first month is taken up with classroom training in basic aircraft systems, with breaks for hands-on practice in a variety of simulators. In this first phase of training called the “Transition” phase, the students learn to operate the aircraft safely and to cope with any abnormal or emergency procedures. Classes and simulators are primarily taught by contract academic instructors, the majority of which are themselves former Air Force fighter pilots with extensive experience in the F-16.”
A crucial piece to this puzzle is an effective air-basing strategy. Distributed airbases would prevent a small number of knock-out blows from taking out the fighter fleet.
F-16 Fighters: A Photo Essay
F-16 from Greece. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.
Fighter jet. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
F-16 Viper. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin.
Image Credit: Creative Commons.
A U.S. Air Force Fighting Falcon flies a mission in the skies near Iraq on March 22, 2003 during Operation Iraqi freedom. The plane is armed with HARM missiles.
NATO fighter. Image Credit: NATO Flickr.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
