The United States believes that Russia's current air defense and air force capabilities make it less than ideal to supply Ukraine with US F-16 fighter jets now.
The Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army, Lt. General Douglas Sims, stated this at a briefing on Thursday, as reported by "Europa Pravda".
A representative of the Ministry of Defense of the United States noted that the conditions under which combat operations take place change over time, "but right now the conditions for the use of the F-16 are probably not ideal."
"I mean, the Russians still have some air defense capability. They also have air capability. And the number of F-16s that will be provided may not be ideal for what's going on now," he clarified. .
At the same time, Sims added that since the future will change, "it will definitely dictate how American fighter jets will be used" by Ukraine.
Meanwhile, it became known that to fulfill current needs at the front, the Armed Forces need about 2-3 squadrons of Western F-16 fighters.
Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said this on the air of the telethon.
"Here we need to divide (regarding the number of planes - ed.). In peacetime, it can be one and a half hundred multi-purpose fighters, which would be enough to protect our state from potential future threats from the outside," Ignat noted.
At the same time, today the Armed Forces need 2-3 squadrons (1 squadron - from 12 to 18 aircraft). An appropriate number of fighters would help our soldiers:
to drive away the Russian aviation, which uses guided aerial bombs, from our borders;
shoot down kamikaze drones and cruise missiles;
to help ground troops in offensive and defensive actions.
F-16 for Ukraine
On July 11, during the NATO summit in Vilnius, a coalition was officially created to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16. It includes 11 countries, and the coalition will be headed by the Netherlands and Denmark.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, pilot training will begin in August - early September, and the first fighter jets may begin flying in Ukrainian skies by the end of March 2024.
Meanwhile, Romania plans to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets as early as next month.
