Down Angle Symbol A symbol in the form of an angle pointing downwards. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sits in an F-16 fighter jet. Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
- Ukraine is relying on the powerful F-16 fighter jet to gain an edge in the war against Russia.
- The F-16 Fighting Falcon can reach speeds of up to 1,500 miles per hour – twice the speed of sound.
- The multi-role fighter also has an impressive range of ammunition, including bombs and missiles.
Late last year, Ukrainian pilots switched from flight simulators to training on real F-16 fighter jets, a fighter that the country hopes will give them a leg up in the war with Russia.
Ukraine has long sought to add the Western fighter jet to its shrunken fighter fleet, which consists of many Soviet planes such as the Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrums and the Sukhoi Su-27 Flankers. Open source researchers have found evidence that Ukraine has lost at least 71 fighter jets since the war began.
Although the F-16 is not the U.S.'s newest aircraft, it is still a valuable and versatile asset in Ukraine's arsenal and will help defend Ukraine's airspace and fire U.S.-developed missiles more effectively.
But when they hit their target, JDAM bombs can have a big impact.
A 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition explodes on a target in the impact area after being dropped from an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon. Kevin Clark, Fort McCoy Multimedia/Visual Information Office
Russia maintains formidable air defenses that threaten Ukrainian fighters anywhere near the front lines. When they arrive, they will also threaten F-16 aircraft.
The F-16 will not give Ukraine the air superiority it is hoping for over Russia, but it could at least level the playing field. They are also designed to fire weapons that can blind Russian air defenses, such as the AGM-88 HARM, which targets radars, as BI's Jake Epstein has reported.
“While F-16s are by no means a silver bullet that will turn the tide of war, they will help Ukraine adopt – or force it to – more Western styles of warfare and help its military work better with those of NATO.” Brynn Tannehill, now a technical analyst at the Santa Monica-based think tank RAND Corporation, wrote in a May 2023 post for The RAND Blog.
Tannehill added: “The decision to give Ukraine F-16s is not about helping it get through the next phase of the war, but about helping it secure its long-term sovereignty.”