What parameters should F-16 have to effectively fight Russia: aviation expert explains

He said this on Espreso TV.

"Everything is so closed from any media coverage that we can only make some assumptions. The first assumption is that we will get the aircraft in the same condition as the armed forces of, say, Denmark and Norway. These aircraft were a little bit outdated, they meet the Block 50-52 standard, which is now the main aircraft in the United States Air Force, but they have radar 66 stations of the second or third modification with a range of 110 km, compared to Russian Su-35 and Su-30SM fighters with a range of about 300 km," Romanenko explained.

The expert suggests that before being handed over to Ukraine, the F-16s will be overhauled and equipped with more modern radar stations.

"Then, of course, the capabilities of our pilots to fully combat Russian fighter jets will increase significantly. In addition, if we do receive aircraft with a different type of radar, for example, the 86th station, which has a range of 120 km and, in general, they received missiles with a range of 160 km during the next stages of improvement, which is 40 kilometers longer than the range of Russian missiles. That is, somewhere we are losing in capabilities, somewhere we are gaining better opportunities to defeat Russian aircraft," said a leading researcher at the State Aviation Museum.

Romanenko hopes that the future F-16s will be equipped with powerful onboard defense systems:

"NATO countries and the United States always pay special attention to this. What is an on-board defense system? It is electronic equipment that can detect radiation from Russian fighters, missile launches, and put up effective interference to divert these missiles so that they do not hit the aircraft. If these conditions are met, we will get aircraft that will give our pilots the opportunity to fight the Russians on equal terms. Not to mention the fact that we will be able to destroy Russian cruise missiles more effectively.”

• In early January, Norway sent two F-16s to Denmark to train Ukrainian pilots and support staff.
• At the end of March, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, along with Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, met with a Danish delegation in Kyiv. The parties also discussed F-16s, which Denmark promised to provide to Ukraine.
• In the summer of 2023, Norway confirmed that it had joined the F-16 coalition, but never publicly announced the number of fighters it would provide to Ukraine.
• On April 15, it became known that Norway, together with its Danish and Dutch partners, plans to provide Ukraine with F-16 multi-role fighters with the latest weapons.