The head of the defense committee of the European Parliament, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, calls on the governments of the EU countries to increase the volume of arms supplies to Ukraine.
Points of attention
- The head of the defense committee of the European Parliament calls on the EU countries to increase the volume of arms supplies to Ukraine.
- The politician makes important calls to improve the efficiency of the American F-16 fighter jets that were delivered to Ukraine.
- Analysis of the configuration of F-16 fighters received by Ukraine shows a new digital station and the possibility of suspension of weapons under the ECIPS/CJS container.
- Ukrainian F-16s are armed with AIM-9 and AIM-120 missiles to destroy targets at various distances.
- These fighters also have the ability to provide support to air defense units and detect threats of missile attacks.
Ukraine needs more arms supplies
The head of the European Parliament's defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, also called on the West to take additional measures to improve the effectiveness of the American F-16 fighter jets recently delivered to Ukraine.
This is an important signal and effective support that the F-16s are finally being delivered, the politician said.
Strack-Zimmermann also noted that Europe should not give up.
All states — not only Germany — must do everything possible to protect Ukraine and give it the opportunity to continue to defend itself, said Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann.
In her opinion, this includes both the support of air defense units and the supply of Taurus cruise missiles, regardless of the opinion of the German chancellery.
What is known about the first F-16 received by Ukraine
Analysts of the Defense Express portal learned about the equipment of the F-16 fighter jets received by Ukraine.
The main surprise can be considered the ECIPS/CJS container from the Danish Terma and the Italian Leonardo, which combines a powerful digital EW station that allows you to interfere with the radar of aircraft and anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as a station for recording the threat of a missile attack at the expense of including detection of the approaching missiles themselves. At the same time, the possibility of suspension to this weapons container remains, that is, the mount for weapons is not lost and it is possible to suspend weapons under ECIPS/CJS. The container itself is a new development and has undergone testing as of 2021, analysts emphasize.
They note that according to unconfirmed information, such pylons were installed on F-16s in service with the armies of Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Norway.
From the video released the day before by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with Ukrainian F-16s, analysts note that the fighters are armed with two types of air-to-air missiles.
In particular, AIM-9 missiles are used to destroy targets at close distances, AIM-120 missiles will be used for strikes at medium and long distances.
Two standard additional fuel tanks for 1,564 liters are placed under the wings of the aircraft. In addition, under the central pylon there is another type of suspended tank for 1 thousand 135 liters.
