Military Talk | Ukrainian Army Gets F-16 Fighter Jet, What Are Its Performances? What Tactics Will It Use?
2024-08-11
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
Recently, the Ukrainian military held a high-profile commissioning ceremony for the F-16 fighter jets donated by NATO countries. President Zelensky attended the ceremony in person and delivered a speech. In addition, the Ukrainian military also released a flight training video of the F-16 fighter jets painted with the yellow trident emblem of the Ukrainian Air Force.
According to the information currently available, the Ukrainian Air Force received the first batch of 10 F-16 fighter jets. Among them, the two donated by the United States do not have the ability to fly and are only used as teaching aids for ground crew training or to provide spare parts. The four fighter jets donated by Denmark and the Netherlands respectively (a total of eight) should have full combat capabilities.
The F-16 equipped by Ukraine has the yellow trident emblem of the Ukrainian Air Force painted on its vertical tail.
F-16s from Denmark and the Netherlands
The F-16 is a fourth-generation fighter jet made in the United States that is widely equipped in European countries (according to the current international popular fifth-generation aircraft classification standard). In 1975, four European countries, including Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, formed the so-called "European Participating Air Force" alliance, referred to as EPAF, in order to purchase and equip F-16 fighter jets at a lower price. After collective consultation with the United States, all F-16 fighter jets purchased by the EPAF alliance countries were assembled and produced by the Belgian SABCA company and the Dutch Fokker company with patents.
Among them, the Danish Air Force purchased the first batch of 58 Block 1 standard F-16A/B fighters (46 A-type and 12 two-seat B-type). Later, in order to make up for the losses and consumption, the Danish Air Force ordered 12 F-16A/B Block15 fighters in 1984. From 1994 to 1997, the Danish Air Force purchased 7 second-hand F-16A/B fighters from the US Air National Guard at a relatively low price. Therefore, the Danish Air Force is equipped with a total of 77 F-16A/B fighters. As of the end of 2023, the Danish Air Force still has 43 F-16AM/BMs in service in the 727th Squadron, all of which have undergone "mid-life upgrades" (MLU), and the rest of the fighters have been retired and sealed.
With the delivery of 27 F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighters ordered by the Danish Air Force, the pace of retirement of its active F-16AM/BM fighters has also begun to accelerate. Therefore, the Danish Air Force is also actively promoting the F-16AM/BM fighters that are about to be completely eliminated to other countries. For example, in April 2024, the Danish Ministry of Defense signed a contract with the Argentine Ministry of Defense to sell 24 F-16AM/BM fighters. The first batch of 4 F-16AM/BMs that Denmark assisted Ukraine this time should be the fighters that have just been retired. Therefore, the author speculates that these 4 fighters should have maintained their intact state when they were in service, and they can be used for combat after being delivered to the Ukrainian Air Force. Of course, the premise is that the pilots and ground crew of the Ukrainian Air Force are already capable of operating and maintaining the F-16AM/BM fighters.
Compared with the Danish Air Force, the Royal Netherlands Air Force has purchased more F-16A/B fighters, totaling 213. However, the Royal Netherlands Air Force received the F-35A "Lightning" II stealth fighter earlier. In December 2021, the first fully staffed F-35A squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force already had initial combat capability. Therefore, the Royal Netherlands Air Force's F-16A/B fighters are retired faster, and currently only 24 of the 312th Squadron remain. Moreover, similar to the Danish Air Force, all of the Royal Netherlands Air Force's existing F-16 fighters are AM/BM models that have been upgraded with MLU. The four aircraft provided to the Ukrainian Air Force this time are likely to be directly drawn from the 312th Squadron.
F-16 Fighter Aircraft Performance and Tactical Analysis
Although the eight F-16A/B fighters delivered by Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine are nominally AM/BM models upgraded from earlier models such as Block 1, Block 10 and Block 15, their combat performance is already close to the Block 40/42 currently in service with the US Air Force. From the video released by the Ukrainian Air Force, the two F-16 fighters in the video are the F-16AMs transferred by the Danish Air Force. Among them, the 3596th fighter is the E-596th fighter of the former Danish Air Force, and the 3599th fighter is the E-599th fighter of the former Danish Air Force, all from the 727th Squadron of the Danish Air Force.
In terms of air combat capability, the AN/APG-66 (V) 2 Doppler mechanical scanning fire control radar equipped on the F-16AM fighter can track 10 air targets at the same time in the tracking and scanning mode, and guide the launch of AIM-120 medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles to attack 6 of them at the same time. This capability is not much inferior to the current Russian Aerospace Forces' Su-35S, Su-30SM and even Su-57. Of course, even if the AN/APG-66 (V) 2 has been upgraded and has a new signal processor, an improved transmitter and a low-power radio frequency unit, it is still a Doppler mechanical scanning radar at the level of the 1990s, and its overall performance is still far behind the passive phased array radar equipped on the Russian main fighters.
On the other hand, it can be seen from the video that the two F-16AM fighters of the Ukrainian Army are still equipped with AIM-120B medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles and AIM-9M short-range air-to-air missiles, which are old models in stock that the US Air Force basically no longer uses. In fact, after being upgraded by the Danish Air Force, these two F-16AM fighters can fully mount and launch the newer AIM-120C/D medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles and AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missiles. The author speculates that it is likely that the US side did not allow Ukraine to provide more advanced air-to-air missiles. This practice will definitely limit the air combat capabilities of the Ukrainian Army's F-16AM fighters to a considerable extent.
Therefore, the author analyzes that the Ukrainian F-16AM fighter is limited by the insufficient performance of fire control radar and air-to-air missiles, and its own flight performance, including speed, ceiling, and range, makes it difficult to fight against the Russian Su-35S, Su-30SM, and Su-57 twin-engine heavy fighters. Therefore, if it is a wise choice, the Ukrainian army should mainly use the F-16AM to make up for the lack of air defense capabilities and use it as an air defense fighter. In fact, the original positioning of the F-16 was also an "air defense fighter", abbreviated as ADF. From the experience of air defense operations in local wars and military conflicts in recent years, high-performance fighters such as the F-16 can play a huge role in intercepting low-speed cruise missiles such as the Russian Kh-555 or "Caliber". Therefore, the aircraft can effectively enhance the Ukrainian army's ability to defend against Russian cruise missile attacks, and no longer rely solely on land-based air defense missiles for interception.
As a multi-purpose fighter with excellent performance, the F-16AM/BM also has a strong ability to attack land and sea. Of course, this also depends on whether NATO countries, especially the United States, Germany and other countries, allow Ukraine to provide long-range cruise missiles such as AGM-158 and "Taurus". The "Storm Shadow" and "Scap"-EG air-launched cruise missiles previously provided to Ukraine by Britain and France can be fully integrated on the F-16AM/BM, and its adaptability is far better than mounting on Soviet-made fighters such as MiG-29 or Su-24. Therefore, the Ukrainian army is also likely to use the F-16AM/BM to adopt a sneak attack tactic of low-altitude penetration, and from time to time attack the Russian army's key targets in Crimea and even in the depths of the mainland.
In addition, the F-16AM/BM is also likely to intercept Russian fighters such as the Su-34 and Su-25 that drop guided bombs on the front line in a "hunting" manner with its fully upgraded electronic warfare capabilities. At present, the Su-34 is equipped with various levels of guided bombs, especially those modified with heavy and super-heavy aerial bombs such as FAB-500 or even FAB-1500. The strike force against the Ukrainian frontline targets is quite strong, causing a large number of casualties to the Ukrainian army and greatly undermining the morale of the Ukrainian army. Therefore, if the Ukrainian army can effectively use the F-16AM/BM to shoot down some Russian ground attack fighters that are not escorted by Su-35S fighters, it can also temporarily curb the Russian army's fierce offensive momentum.
Ukrainian F-16s are equipped with AIM-120B medium-range air-to-air missiles and AIM-9M close-range air-to-air missiles.
Subsequent development of Western fighter jets to Ukraine
Judging from the current development trend, the first batch of 10 F-16s is just the "appetizer" at the beginning. The other two countries in the EPAF alliance, Norway and Belgium, are likely to deliver more of the same type of fighters to Ukraine. Greece, another major F-16 fighter in Europe, also announced that it would provide Ukraine with up to 32 of the fighters, while the country's air force has 156 F-16 fighters in service. Greece's move is in exchange for the United States' agreement to sell it up to 40 F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters.
Moreover, the Greek Air Force's F-16 fighters are basically of the updated Block 30 technical standard, which are first delivered to the United States for improvement and upgrade to the latest Block 70 technical standard (i.e. F-16V), and then delivered to the Ukrainian Air Force. If the Ukrainian Air Force really gets such a large number of advanced F-16V fighters in the future, it will have the ability to compete with the Russian Aerospace Forces for air supremacy to a considerable extent. Of course, Ukrainian President Zelensky previously expressed the hope that NATO countries would provide up to 128 F-16 fighters, a number that is probably difficult to achieve in the short term.
In addition, the Swedish government also proposed in April 2024 that the Swedish military should study and formulate a feasibility report on providing JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine. Currently, the Swedish Air Force is purchasing a new generation of JAS-39E/F fighter jets to replace the earlier models such as A/B. Therefore, it is very likely that Sweden will refurbish the obsolete JAS-39A/B Gripen fighter jets and deliver them to Ukraine.
Wang Ruohong, special contributor to The Paper
(This article is from The Paper. For more original information, please download the "The Paper" APP)
