While F-16s defend cities and infrastructure, other weapons can be used closer to front –  US pilot

Peter Greenberg, an American military pilot, volunteer and military instructor, told Espreso.

"Air superiority is extremely important in American or NATO doctrine. It's just part of how we conduct operations. But if we look at what Ukraine has already done without having that air dominance. You have contained the Russian enemy and pushed them back in many places. That means that even without air superiority, whether it's locally or in a wider area, you can still do a lot," he said.

Greenberg added that, for example, F-16s can operate quite far behind, and can defend the airspace of cities.

"This will not have a direct impact on the front line, but an indirect one. The more F-16s can defend cities and infrastructure, the more other systems can be used closer to the front line. This effect is adaptive. Having F-16s, Ukrainians can successfully use other systems and will be able to move them to get a greater effect," the pilot said.

He noted that we should also not forget about the long-range systems that the F-16 has.

"This is a weapon that Ukraine already has. Not even on the front line itself, but being out of range of enemy systems or aircraft, the latest fighters, such as the F-16, have an intense impact on the battlefield. I am not a soldier and I do not understand ground operations, but I can say that there will be opportunities to destroy fortifications, defence lines, troops dug in, weapons depots that are now being hit with both Ukrainian and Western weapons. The enemy will not feel safe when Ukraine is able to launch long-range strikes. At the very least, the occupiers will either have to retreat or die. They will not be able to move forward, so they will most likely move backwards. I'm not making any promises, I'm just saying that the weapons that will be available for use will destroy the army that is frozen in its positions," Greenberg concluded.

F-16 fighters for Ukraine

On May 21, US President Joe Biden approved the training of Ukrainians on F-16s. Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured that Ukraine would not use these aircraft to strike at Russian territory.

Defense Ministry adviser Yuriy Sak said that Ukraine hopes to receive the first modern American F-16 fighters in the fall of 2023.

On May 25, at a meeting in the Ramstein format, it was announced that the coalition to train the Ukrainian Armed Forces with F-16s would be led by Denmark and the Netherlands and would include four other countries: Norway, Belgium, Portugal, and Poland. 

On June 15, following the Ramstein meeting, Stoltenberg said that training on the F-16 had already begun. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin noted the rapid progress in this area, and a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force said that they wanted a quick result, but that "the process is delayed."

The same day, it was reported that Denmark and the Netherlands plan to start training Ukrainian pilots this summer and will establish a training center in an Eastern European NATO country.

Following the Ramstein meeting, Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov expressed confidence that we would have a "bird coalition."

On July 6, media reported that Romania would become a base for training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.

On July 11, Ukraine agreed to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 combat aircraft with France. On the same day, Ukraine signed a memorandum with 11 partner countries to create a coalition to train pilots on F-16 fighter jets.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says that the first F-16 fighter jets are likely to fly in Ukraine's skies by the end of March 2024.

On July 16, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the US would not postpone training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, and Biden allowed European countries to start training. 

On July 22, Sullivan said that Ukrainian pilots would start training to fly F-16s in the next few weeks.