In order not to knock down their air defense: the expert told why F-16 is transferred for so long to Ukraine
"It implemented a Fly-By-Wire (FBW) control system [that is, all manual management that was present in previous models is replaced by an electronic interface]. This is 9G [can withstand nine times gravity force], that is, very" fast " The plane, "Belle said. The first F-16 samples appeared in January 1979, it is a fairly old aircraft, but it was constantly upgraded. There are 20 mm guns, additional compartments where fuel tanks or air-land classes can be placed.
It is the most sold and exported fighter, even in EU countries. There are 125 such fighters in Belgium, Denmark and Norway. "I was lucky enough to fly the Dutch F-16 years ago. Extremely powerful, but it is worth noting the Dutch, they have only 24 such planes, now they want to write them off and possibly later replace with the F-35," the analyst said. According to him, the key point is that Americans - manufacturers of these aircraft should grant to other countries to use them.
And US President Joe Biden gave Green at last, now other countries can consider the transmission of these aircraft to Ukraine. "President Zelensky wants them right now. But the cruel reality is such that there are a number of obstacles that need to be overcome. One of them is the preparation that can take months if not years. Now the EU is trying to find out how experienced Ukrainian pilots are trying to find out how Fast Ukrainians will be able to get prepared: airlines and their own flight, etc.
-16 in the Ukrainian sky, "Belle explained. Another difficulty is that countries do not buy these planes more than they need. One of the decisions to take from each country one by one, but they are all different, different years of release, with different technical blocks, radars, etc. In addition, the pilots will have to move to different models of aircraft every time. When the F-16 appears in Ukraine, the Russians will try to knock them down.
"They will be purposefully searched for them, so the F-16 should be integrated into the Ukrainian air defense system related to the air-to-air rockets. In addition, it is also necessary to ensure that the F-16 does not knock down their own systems, because for Ukrainian PPO systems will unusually operate with these aircraft, and so, sometimes you knock down your own planes, "Belle explained.
Despite the fact that Ukraine will not receive the F-16 this year, the event has decided to transfer the F-16 to Ukraine and it is extremely important because the Ukrainian leadership has been asked for it since last year, the analyst said. "Until recently, they hesitated very much, and a year ago, the President of Zelensky has not trusted high -tech Western weapons. Over the past year, they began to give more and more long -range weapons.