According to Austrian Armed Forces Colonel Markus Reisner, Ukraine's acquisition and deployment of F-16 fighter jets will strengthen defenses and make it possible to counter the dropping of air defense bombs by the criminal Russian army on Ukrainian military positions and civilian settlements.
Points of attention
- Acquisition and deployment of F-16 fighter jets will bolster Ukraine's defenses against glider bombs dropped by the Russian army.
- Ukraine needs at least 25 Patriot air defense systems and about 100 medium-range systems for effective protection.
- Massive, active, and passive anti-aircraft defense is crucial in combating the use of glider bombs by the Russian Army.
- F-16 fighter jets can play a significant role in countering the dropping of glider bombs by the Russian occupiers.
- Failure to establish robust anti-aircraft defense systems could pose serious challenges for Ukraine in the face of glider aerial bomb attacks.
How the Armed Forces can counter the reset of KABs by the Russian occupiers
The main means of combating the use of such glider bombs is massive, active and passive air defense. What do I mean by massive? This means not just placing individual batteries here and there, but massive use of different types of batteries - medium and long range. All this in combination with radars for early detection refers to passive air defense, - explains the Austrian military.
He emphasized that the NATO partners have undertaken obligations, according to which 7 batteries of Patriot air defense systems should be deployed in Ukraine in the near future, as well as about 30 medium-range air defense systems.
At the same time, Reisner emphasizes that this will not be enough.
In my opinion, Ukraine actually needs four times more. In other words, it needs at least 25 Patriot systems and about 100 medium-range systems. This is only for the so-called passive air defense, and all this must be supported by appropriate early detection systems, that is, radar systems, - explains the military.
He noted that an active component will be the use of Ukrainian military aircraft.
How F-16s can help in countering the Russian occupiers dropping KABs
And here, of course, great hopes now rest on the possible delivery of the F-16, which will make it possible, with the use of appropriate air-to-air weapons, to actually change the distance at which Russian warplanes are now using glide bombs to a disadvantageous one for the Russians. This will force them to retreat even further into their airspace due to the active air defense of Ukraine, in this case - the use of fighter aircraft, - emphasizes the colonel of the Austrian army.
Reisner warned that in case of failure, it will be very difficult for Ukraine to create massive active and passive air defense.
And this can be seen on the example of the use of only glider bombs. President Zelensky recently noted that 800 guided aerial bombs are dropped every week. This is more than 100 bombs per day. And this can also be seen in Russian social networks - dozens of new videos appear almost every day, showing how glider bombs are used. The problem is also that these bombs keep getting bigger. Now there is even a FAB with UMPK weighing 3,000 kilograms, which can simply destroy an average Ukrainian company or platoon stronghold. And this, of course, is a big problem, - adds the military man.
