F‑16 fighters for Ukraine mark a shift in air defence strategy
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed that Dutch and Danish F-16 fighters are already headed to Ukraine. Additionally, by the end of 2024, six more units from Norway will join them.
The F-16 planes promised for over a year will be protecting the Ukrainian sky this summer, and in two days, another significant support package is expected to be announced. Additionally, at the NATO summit, support for Ukraine in its pursuit of joining the North Atlantic Alliance was confirmed.
Ukraine is set to receive a total of 79 planes, but deliveries will be spaced out over time. Thirty planes will come from Belgium, 24 from the Netherlands, 19 from Denmark, and six from Norway.
F-16 planes for Ukraine - older versions feared by the Russians
The machines donated to Ukraine are modified variants of the F-16A/B MLU (Mid-Life Update) due to a deep modernization from the 1990s. The most important element of this modernization was the integration of F-16 planes with AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, which have a range of around or over 100 kilometres, depending on their version, and the installation of a radar appropriate for their range.
However, in the case of the versions for Ukraine, other changes were most likely made in the last year. Since unique weapons like French AASM Hammer bombs are being integrated with the F-16, the use of, for example, targeting pods like the AN/ASQ-213 HTS enabling the full utilization of anti-radiation missiles AGM-88 HARM or precision bombs from the JDAM-ER or Paveway families is just a formality.
This does not change the fact that Ukrainian F-16s will be machines with fewer capabilities than, for example, the new versions of the F-16C/D Block 52+.
However, Ukrainian aviation is currently operating with the remnants of available machines, and any support, even with machines from the 1990s, will be a huge help for them. F-16s could, for example, be used to hunt down Russian cruise missiles or drones flying over western Ukraine, similar to what happened with Israel.
The F-16s will also most likely be used for more intense bombing of Russians on some front sections, which is currently done sporadically by planes like the MiG-29s. It is also possible that the presence of F-16s will lead to more sparing use of aviation by the Russians, as they will lose air dominance resulting from the weakness of Ukrainian aviation.
