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A U.S. Navy flight deck crew sailor watches a fighter jet's routine operation.
Meticulous work
Svitan explains how difficult it would be to liberate the Donbas region without aviation: "It would mean navigating ridge after ridge of mountains, rivers, and lakes,” he adds. “The same applies to Crimea, by the way. I think the planes will come in handy for the liberation of Crimea."
June 6 marked a joyful occasion for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. After talks with European partners, he announced that his country is set to acquire a "significant number" of F-16 fighter jets.
"I had a happy day,” Zelensky said. “Usually, we have to negotiate for one or two (F-16s) at a time, but now we received a significant offer."
Eliminating enemy resistance is very meticulous work.
These fighters could be used to strengthen the Ukrainian air defense system and fire support to the advancing ground units, according to military experts.
Roman Svitan explains that F-16 fighters operate in three squadrons in support of the offensive. The first squadron is tasked with incapacitating the enemy’s air defenses. The second strikes at fortifications and ground units, while the third squad provides cover.
“Eliminating enemy resistance is very meticulous work,” Svitan says. “It is naturally much easier for ground units to attack in a direction that was already plowed by aviation.”
Members of the Kyiv Territorial Defense receive combat training after being deployed in the Donbas.
Nearly impossible to hit
In a war marked by long-distance missile strikes, Svitan believes there should be no problem with sheltering parked F-16s from Russian cruise missiles.
“If we have one squadron stationed at one airfield, then we can spread the planes out so effectively that it will be impossible for a missile to hit them,” he says. “How is a pilot firing an X-101 (cruise missile) from a thousand kilometers away supposed to know where exactly — near which bush — our aircraft is standing?”
He adds that the current location of aircraft is constantly changing as planes are moved around, making them “nearly impossible” to hit with long-range missiles.
The second (and decisive?) phase
Svitan says the F-16s will be deployed once the Ukrainian pilots can operate them, which he believes is a matter of months.
“It takes three to four years to make a pilot out of a person just off the street,” he says. “But Ukraine has several hundred fighter pilots who fly Soviet aircraft like the MiG-29, Su-20, MiG-21, or Czechoslovak L-39. Experienced pilots like these can be retrained in three or four months.”
This time frame probably means that the F-16s will not see action during the initial stage of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. But he thinks the first trained brigade, which Svitan says could mean around 40 aircraft units, might be ready by the end of the summer or the beginning of autumn.
“In time for the second phase of the counter-offensive,” he says.
- Beyond No-Fly Zones: Weighing The West's Options To Help Ukraine Militarily ›
- Pilots First, Then The Planes? The West Looks Ready To Break Major "Taboo" On Ukraine Arms ›
- Inside The Polish-Led Push To Send Fighter Jets To Ukraine – Bypassing Germany ›
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