Europe can offer alternatives as U.S. freezes F-16 technical support for Ukraine - aviation expert

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"Regarding the situation with the U.S. freezing technical support for F-16s to Ukraine, there are alternative aircraft in Europe. First and foremost, we are talking about the Mirage fighter jets, which France is gradually bringing into service. These planes are comparable in their characteristics to the F-16s that Ukraine has received. However, there are also more modern aircraft, as in France, in addition to the Mirage, the main combat aircraft is the Rafale. All tasks previously performed by the Mirage are now being transferred to the Rafale," noted the aviation expert.

According to him, there is also the British Eurofighter Typhoon, which is a highly effective fighter jet in terms of its characteristics, including its radio-electronic reconnaissance and detection systems. It has radars, and in some modifications, they are even more powerful than the F-16 in the version that Ukraine received. The F-16 has a radar range of 150-160 km, while the Eurofighter can detect up to 185 km. The combat range of the F-16 is 550 km, whereas the Eurofighter's is almost 1,400 km, but its payload is 3 tons less than that of the F-16.

"There are also Swedish Gripen fighter jets in Europe, specifically the JAS 39 Gripen, which also match the capabilities of modern F-16 modifications, even more advanced than those provided to Ukraine. However, only a small number of Gripen aircraft have been produced so far. For Ukraine to receive additional such aircraft, it would involve their production, which could take several years. So, the process with Gripen will not be quick. As for the Mirage, we see that preparing the aircraft and flight personnel could take 6 to 8 months, and these planes would already be in Ukrainian airspace. Similar timelines would apply to the Rafale and Typhoon, but for now, these aircraft are not being considered," commented Bohdan Dolintse.

• On March 9, Forbes analyst David Axe reported that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has halted critically important jamming system support for the Ukrainian Air Force, which could significantly weaken their air counteraction capabilities.