According to Ilya Yevlash, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Ukraine may receive the first F-16 fighter jets from its Western partners after Easter.
What is known about the arrival of the first F-16s in Ukraine
At the same time, Yevlash noted that the Air Force prefers not to name the exact timeframe for the arrival of the American fighters in Ukraine, as the planned dates have been changed several times before.
Our task is to work with what is provided to us, we are not directly responsible for the delivery, this is a question for the highest military and political leadership. When the first fighter jets arrive in Ukraine, we will definitely talk about it, explained the spokesman.
Is Russia ready for Ukraine to receive F-16s from its Western partners?
According to a military expert, reserve colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Petro Chernyk, the Russian occupiers have no way of preparing a response to Ukraine's receipt of F-16 fighters from its partners.
The enemy is not ready and cannot be ready to fight with this machine. The most important thing is the aircraft's targeting system. It will be incredibly good in the fight against carriers of CABs. The bombs themselves cannot be shot down, but the carrier, the Su-34, can be easily destroyed. A pair of F-16s is already 12 missiles, Chernyk explains.
According to him, even if Russian Su-34s manage to dodge the first two missiles, the third and fourth will definitely hit the target.
The expert also emphasised the importance of the surprise factor when Ukraine receives Western aircraft.
The factor of surprise plays the most fundamental role in war. F-16s travel at a speed of 2,400 kilometres per hour, so they will not be able to detect them. And I have no doubt that as soon as the first machines start operating in the dark, the enemy will suffer serious losses. We will know that these aircraft have been received when information starts to appear every day for a week and a half that Su-34s have started to fall in an unnatural way. Then they will draw their own conclusions, Chernyk stressed.
