Integration with air defense: in ISW ​​explained whether F-16 is enough for the tasks set

Analysts of the Institute of War (ISW) in the report published on August 4 were told about the peculiarities of the provision of Western fighters. Analysts recalled that the Western media reported the arrival of ten F-16 and is probably related to Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States. By the end of 2024, another 10 (from the promised 79 units) will come.

The main purpose of the aircraft is the integration with the air defense forces to protect against air strikes of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the report is said. The ISW emphasized that in order to effectively beat Russian goals, Ukraine needs to solve two problems related to the number of fighter jets and the work of the Russian air defense forces.

What are the problems with the F-16 analysts: "A considerable amount of F-16 is needed to place them on the scale required for Ukraine to succeed in the integration of aircraft into its wider air defense paragraph," the ISW report reads. It should be noted that the Western Air Coalition for providing Ukraine with F-16 aircraft was in the summer of 2023, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

For 12 months, pilots and technicians studied in the US, Great Britain, Denmark, Belgium, meanwhile, Ukrainian infrastructure was preparing. In the spring of 2024, the media reported the completion of pilots training, and the Ukrainian military explained that the reason for the delay in the appearance of aircraft was the unpreparedness of airfields. On July 31, Bloomberg reported that the Armed Forces had received the first fighters, and The Economist named them - 10 units.

At first, the Ukrainian authorities did not confirm the information, but on July 4, on the Air Force Day, President Zelensky officially stated that the planes were already in Ukraine. At the same time, during the festivities, the Ukrainians were shown two fighters that flew in the sky.