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Su-35s vs. F-16s: Could Western Fighter Jets Help Ukraine Win Its Skies? | WSJ
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- Published on Jun 8, 2023 veröffentlicht
- Ukraine is trying to convince the West to provide it with F-16s, modern fighter jets capable of traveling twice the speed of sound.
Here’s how the planes compare with Russia’s soviet-designed aircraft and what difference they could make in the war.
Illustration: Adam Adada
0:00 Kyiv says it wants 200 Western jets, like the Eurofighter Typhoon, F-16 or Swedish Gripen
0:40 Why are Western jets so important to Kyiv?
2:11 Comparing the size, missiles and sensors of the fighter aircraft
3:02 Why Ukraine’s pilots will need extensive training
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
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The MIG-29 is closer to the F16 being initially designed as a light weight fighter and later converted to other roles. The passive optical system on the Russia jets is not for BVR (beyond visual range) encounters but rather medium and close range.
My understanding is that the IRST *is* for BVR, but specifically "medium range" BVR. It probably won't help for using a R-37M to hit a target 100 miles out, but it is just fine for targets only 50 miles away (which is no longer within visual range, if I'm not mistaken). I agree, though, that mentioning the passive systems alongside their longest-range missiles was a bit of a mistake (so my reply to you is just a nitpick). Long range Russian missles depend on Radar to be effective.
yes and it can still be detected sense it sense out radio waves as they mainly use that to combat us fighter jets stealth because the irst can only see heat off of air crafts
@Clarkem honestly its hard to tell, all of the su fighter jets from the su27 (except the su57) are basically the same plane as the su27 as the su30 is a upgraded su27 with two seats and the su33 is the carrier variant and the su34 is a tactical bomber variant and the su35 is more modern one.
@Cool Squad The conards is the best way to tell, the Su27 is the only one without them of the above mentioned (except the su57).
As an experienced fighter pilot. Moving a pilot from flying a Russian jet to a US design is the wrong move. It is hard to forget the previous jet but training a younger pilot on F16s would be better. But it would take a new pilot longer than 2 years to be able to fly a combat aircraft better.
Surely with fly by wire, controlling the airframe should be a relatively easy transition, it's fighting the weapons system that will require more skill.I can't understand why it should take more than 2 months of concentrated tuition to master the differences.
@Graham Stevenson Easy said than done. Taking off ,flying any plane and landing is easy but when you're doing combat moves like bombing sorties and recons you need more skills
I don't know any thing about flying but i am sure experience is very very important that comes with years of flying and practicing. It is the unique and unpredictable moments where experience comes into play. I am a surgeon and that's how surgery works.
@mvs When under pressure, muscle memory comes in and that's gained after many yrs of flying.
But the su 35 is a better jet no?
The Grippen is their best choice considering their position and the capabilities of the aircraft. Sure, F16s are substantially more common and easier to repair, and the typhoon is superior in its weapons suite.
However, the ease of maintenance and ability forgo an airfield makes a strong case for the Grippen.
However, there's the issue of cost and scalability. The Grippen, as of right now, isn't really commercially viable.
The Grippen was designed with exactly this type of war in mind, and would be a great choice.
Apparantly the Swedish industry can not just step up the production in a sufficiently fast rate: it has to produce Gripens for the countries that ordered them. They can not just add 24 extra "in between", it doesn't work that way. But yes, given the Gripen's ability to use normal carroads in stead of runways the Russians probably will try to hit is an enormous plus. And it would enable the Ukrainians to see if the Gripen is really the "Mig Eater" or "Mig -killer the Swedes are promising in their salestalks and -videoclips... It is a very small plane however, that can't carry that much of weapons as an F 16. Plus maintenance... Not only would it mean the Swedes would have to send brand new planes, but also Swedish technicians for maintenance purposes, for ex. on Polish soil... Not very likely, is it... ? I'm not even talking about spare parts....
I would think that the F-35B with its VTOL capability is the best given Ukraine runway vulnerability. Early model F-16 Blocks with AMRAAM C can't take on Late Model Russia Su-27 and Su-35 but the late model F-16 Block 70 or Block 60 or those upgraded radar and with AMRAAM D can. At some point Ukraine will need to be given modern weapons. The older F-16 will however be able to launch modern western weapons and will be used in ground attack roles. They will need to be protected by more modern fighters, Patriots and so forth. They will also be able to shoot down cruise missiles.
Ukrainian pilots have already been training on flight simulators & F-16s in the interior of the lower 48 states, and have been for several months now! It’s just been on the down low. Plus they pick up on new technology a lot quicker than people think. I would venture to say these guys could learn to fly that is 16 proficiently within six months.
Combat aircraft are vital to Ukraine. However, jets alone won't carry the day. So many supporting assets are required to keep an air force effective. First and foremost, are pilot training and the ability to maintain the jets. I've read that approximately 15 to 17 hours of maintenance are required for each hour an F-16 flies. That's a huge logistical footprint needed for spare parts and other needs. Surveillance aircraft, such as AWACS, are vital to coordinate attacks, warn of hostile planes, and gain situational awareness. Yes, it's easy to say give Ukraine fighter jets, but the commitment behind the scenes is monumental. Like the
What does air superiority mean when you're facing against the best integrated anti-aircraft defense in the world?!
The "Viper " is just the Most recent version of the F-16, notice the conforming fuel tanks added on the top of the fuselage, one of the most obvious mods that are easy to spot.
Viper was the unofficial nickname since the 80s. Those CFTs or conformal fuel tanks are not unique to the latest variant (F-16 block 70/72) even the older israeli Variants have been using them for years
What makes the block 70 different is the advanced avionics, like the APG-83 AESA radar
You have no idea what you're talking about dude please stop. Viper has been its nickname for decades, it has nothing to do with CFTs
@Michael D 70-72 - depending if it's a single seat or dual. also of the most relevance are the conformal fuel tanks usualy used by block 70-72 (they may also be applyed to block 50-52+, F-16 C/D, or the more advanced then the former, the block 60 sold to United Arab Emirates Air Force. 900 pounds of extra fuel without the use of hardpoints, or so it states LM's official site)
The SU-35 is an incredible looking machine.
Yeah I hate how sexy it is to me lol… I think a lot of Russian weapons look super dope tho lol
@Robert Farmer I'm the same way. They seem to have an eye for making weapons with all the right curves.
The SU-35 is so hot though. 🔥
Being an incredible looking machine, don't makes it an amazing machine on the battlefield. Specially when the su35 only got PESA radar, against NATO AESA radars. Europeans passive sensors are the topnotch ones, without forgetting best missiles.
@AnnoyMouse thrust vectoring are mostly used at 90% by large size and heavy aircrafts. Simply because without it, they can't turn naturally well.
Also, thrust vectoring has some weaknesses, that's why it doesn't guarantee you an upper hand on a dogfight.
That's why an aircraft like the Dassault Rafale, was able to win against so many TVS (thrust vectoring system) equipped aircrafts. The most interesting fact, the Rafale don't even use a TVS, but performed better than TVS equipped aircrafts.
Delta wings fighter jets, are famous for being superior in dogfights in a aviation history, it's even better when Delta wings with canards.
As an engineer, I would guess that the F16 differs from the MiG mainly in the multitude of automatic programs. But my experience of working with a computer and a smartphone suggests that programs can be mastered very quickly. To be more precise, launch already installed programs. This does not actually require education, but only a permanent mentor, a person nearby who knows how to operate. We are slaves to theory. Theory that we don't need slows down our learning. When I was taught to swim, I was not told about Archimedes' forces, but lie on the water and swim. If not the first time, then the second, third. When I was taught to ride a bicycle, I was not told about the centrifugal force, which compensates for the tilt of the body, and the handlebars to the right, tilt to the right - turn right, handlebars to the left, tilt to the left - turn to the left. I went to sambo: the coach showed and said two or three words, or even silently - that's the whole theory. If you use a reasonable, necessary amount of theory, then I believe that it will take no more than a month to retrain pilots.
I think the Eurofighter would be great, but the UK would likely only give Ukraine their old Tranche 1 fighters which were limited in many areas and are not as multirole capable or capable of using the Meteor. But pound for pound, the Gripen is an excellent choice in cost, performance and features. But I have no idea which version they'd get.
Imo for a country like Ukraine a fleet of good Gripens would be an excellent match.
I haven't got a clue about the F-16, because it's potentially very old. So depending on the version they get, it could wildly vary in features and capability.
So my realistic choice would be Gripen, because the Eurofighter could be more limiting and as I said, I don't know which F-16s.
My unrealistic choice if the others weren't available would actually be a fleet of Block 3 JF-17s in cost and capability. Not as good as the Gripen, but cheap enough for a large fleet. F-16-like performance (maybe not quite there), but updated features such as AESA radar and off bore-sight missiles. It's also cheap to maintain and quite easy to update and modify software I believe.
The Meteor is currently the best western air to air missile we have with superior range and speed due to its rocket-ramjet. The Eurofighter with the CAPTOR radar is also the best apart from the F-22.
@William zk I don't think early version Eurofighters can fire the Meteor though. I don't think the aircraft was adapted until Tranche 2 Block 15 I think.
The CAPTOR-E radar is on the newer Tranche 3 models.
Also though, the Eurofighters IRST is also one of the best. It's apparently really sensitive.
That said, the Ukrainian pilots have shown what they can do with SU-27s and they're old. So they'd probably get on even with early versions of the Eurofighter.
But I mentioned the other aircrafts because they're cheaper and also well featured.
I wonder how a dogfight between Su-35 Raptor and the F-16 Flanker would go. Also, delta wing fighters such as Eurofighter Mirage and Dassault Fulcrum looks sick!
The turning dog fight is basically over, thrust vectoring missiles are just too good. Its all about first look first shoot capability for a BVR engagement. They train pilots how to do a turning dog fight but warn them not to get into a turning fight, this includes F22 (Raptor) Pilots. This is why the West has invested heavily in stealth and detection.
It depends which Block F-16. If we're talking about the latest F-16s rolling out the factory line, those have significantly superior BVR capabilities that it won't need to dogfight the Su-35.
West should stop being afraid of purine bluff
How can the war be escalated anymore Putin bombing 2 years
Just a nitpick it isn't the F-16 Raptor it is the F-16 Fighting Falcon or unofficially the Viper.
Facts.
Just another self appointed non expert. I am surprised it wasn’t a picture of a F14.
The su 35 is also not being used 😂😂 they don’t even have a single squadron 😂
@felix romano they have around 100 su35
To put into context, put all the latest tech, radars and missiles in any aircraft, and it beats the SU35. If you can engage and desteoy our enemy before being detected, the platform you fly doesn't really matter
Invisible aircraft make the Russians laugh
Wonder how many hits it need to bring a missive balloon down!!🤪
You just need some to fly - right?
Su-35 have a 60 mile missile range and can fly faster and higher than the f16.
Russia is a massive country---defending itself is an industry in itself. Now we have had a lot of things said about their preparedness for the "special operation in Ukraine", their state of training, their state of corruption amongsts its top echelons, their state of equipment, their state of intelligence gathering etc etc etc...
And rightly so, MOST of the questions posed in lay observation of the conflict may justify much of the opinions of the lay-analysts and watchers, and even be useful to those designing the narratives and those threading the messaging on western corporate media. But then, in those very same messaging we note significant shifts from the operational and tactical aspect of the analysis of the war, to messaging opinions about Wagner and its alleged mobilized convicts as news --- either way, one wonders of what significance, is the messaging on "ill-trained" conscripts, if the ground troops from the regular 5 armies are barely unutilized???
According to the western corporate messaging ---- the Ukraine is so far huffing and puffing it out against supported Wagner fighters, and they are barely doing any better than them, in that declared "meat-grinder" in the Donbas. .
There are NO significant movement of troops within Russia from one military District to the West----read into that whatever you may, but Russia has a ready standby reserve of 2,000,000, question why they are starting early conscription then. So, it's easy to dismiss the kremlin on account of media driven messaging, but you just have to ask those questions, that don't seem to make sense, until you realize that BOTH SIDES ARE PLAYING THE WAITING GAME, this conflict is just taking form and shape as we speculate..
Best jet for Ukraine is Swedish Griffin. Its built for short landing and has very strong undercarriage.
Yes its pretty cheap and good as personally the jas 39 gripen E is better then the euro fighter
Its also designed to be easier to maintain then the F16 and land on highways or unprepared fields.
I admire shadowblade toughest ever
Why would the Swedes give them their flagship jet?
@Bill Bob They have given them the best IFV in the world why not their 4th gen aircraft?
The Su-35 isn't really similar to the F-16. I'd say it's closer to F-15ex or slightly older version. It's hard to find an analog to the F-16 as there aren't any single engined fighters in service, but I think the mig-29 is probably the closest.
Exactly
Exactly and this is exactly why Ukraine getting F-16 won't change the dynamic of the war. Regardless of what version of the AMRAAM they would get, the F-16's radar is not able to push the missile to it's maximum range. The biggest problem would still be the vast array of highly lethal Russian SAM's.
The F-16 would still need to fly very low in the weeds and that dramatically limits the range of the missiles.
Mig 29 is much closer to F16 but it has twin engines and higher performance.
@Jawzzy we do a little AWACS data link trolling
@Daniel Ordonez Thr US AWACS more than likely doesn't have the range to guide a missile from outside of Ukraine to a Russian target.
F-16 without runway vs Su- 35 with runway. Su-35 hands down winner.
due to the fact ukraine is having to base their jets off of non conventional runways like roads the jas39 would be their best bet as they were designed to operate off such runways
What you failed to mention and I think the main reason why the west refuses to send jets is the s-400 and beyond system. Which can easily shoot these jets down.
I mean, they could also send all the ordinance to destroy those s400 batteries to establish air superiority over the country, then their jets could serve much better as close air support to finally break the trench stalemate
@Liam O'Brien most of does s400 they are inside Russia and they cover also a range inside Eastern Ukraine
@Liam O'Brien dreams only dreams what are you a high school student?
@Guillermo Elenes wait, are you saying that western air power can't beat s400's, or are you saying that attacking s400 batteries in Russia's borders is too escalatory?
Well... the F-16 was developed by America alone and used by a number of European partners... you're thinking F-35. The F-22 is THE Raptor, the F-16 is THE Fighting Falcon or Viper... and no the F-16 can't beat the SU 35 in a dog fight, the SU 35 was built from the ground up to brawl in a dog fight.
im not aware of the specifics behind the su 35 but if im not mistaken it uses a pesa radar. Assuming the US sends block 50 f16s, which also use a pesa radar, they might be pretty equal in bvr. I doubt the US will send aim 120d, maybe the aim 120c-7, which should be comparable to the r77-1
Su35 depends on 100 plus components that make it fly..all from the West.. they will become F14's like Iran sat on for 30 years
@awesome guy I don’t think they would be willing to put themselves on the line either for a war that they aren’t involved in, no country would
@awesome guy only if they want to be cut off from 60% of the world's economy (the west) to help russia with their 4% of world economy. which will doom most companies.
@awesome guy India is not in the same block as Russia & China. India is a neutral country like Switzerland.
It's all good comparing the jets and their performance but nobody's asking the other questions to make up the full picture of what they can really do in combat. Such as which are the best air to air missiles? Which jets have the better tracking and detection systems? Which has better performance with a full loadout.
There's lots to consider.
The new Russian R-37M air-to-air missile showed the highest combat effectiveness in the special operation - its probability of hitting targets is almost one - that is, one missile is enough for one Ukrainian military aircraft, an informed source told RIA Novosti.
According to him, these missiles have been used in the special operation zone against various Ukrainian air targets from Russian Su-35S, MiG-31BM, as well as 5th generation Su-57 fighters.
The maximum launch range of the R-37M, according to open data, is 300 km, the target engagement height is from 30 m to 25 km, the maximum missile flight speed is 6 speeds of sound, that is, in fact, the missile is hypersonic.
Hold on, are you sill calling your invasion a special military operation? I didn't even think that Putin was still doing that.
Brilliant observation. During a war you need your planes available. Glad I tuned in for that gem.
Ukraine knows that this war is not going to end in a year. Even if Russia is pushed back to the border, they can retaliate anytime. They are making maximum use of the situation to upgrade themselves. This oppertunity may never come back for them. Once government changes in USA or any other EU nations things may change rapidly.
Ukraine, IMO, will lose most likely this year.
Its not the fighter jets that make the big difference because dog fights are a thing of the past. Its the operational awareness and missiles the planes carry that will make the difference.
You should think about "F-16 vs S-300 and S-400" .
The Eurofighter was specifically design to defeat the Su-35, or as it was known 30 years ago, the Su-27M. It is the only of the three Europeans aircraft under consideration that can out range, and out perform in avionics and flight performance. Ah ahead as the US is in avionics what we’ll see will be older models with the older AN/APG-66 radars for the F-16 and the PS-05/A on the Gripen. These don’t stack up to the large PESA radar on the Su-35.
The issue with Eurofighter is that because it’s so capable it’s a very expensive and resource intensive aircraft to fly, and will be seen as especially high value targets by Russian strikes.
The biggest problem for Western aircraft will be overcoming Russian air defence systems, as it has been since the SA2 took out Mr Powers.
Well, tell that to the Israeli`s who took out targets in Syria right next door of some S400`s Easy Peasy fly some drones get a radar search, put a couple HARM`s on that missile battery then do your job with an F 16.Mr. Powers was in 1962 by the way.
@ted zehnder the s400s weren’t turned on, a s200 shot a Israeli plane down, Russia didn’t authorize the s-400 vs israel
@FakeRed Ukraine has already knocked out a few S-400s, so you make it sound as if the S-400 is indestructible. It's not. F-16 absolutely dominates in the SEAD role. The challenge, of course, is if the Ukrainian pilots can be trained sufficiently for this role. Ukrainian ingenuity does seem to positively surprise all of us, as the HARM armed Ukrainian MIG-29s/SU-27s seem to do a decent job even with their severe limitations they have with the interfacing.
It depends on the response. The best case scenario is for the Ukrainians to bait the Russians into sending it's fighters within SAM range and to pull Russia's SAM launchers within artillery range of Ukrainian forces.
@orlock20Many Russian SAM's are within artillery range already. That's how they are shooting down so many HIMARS rockets.
Since when is the F-16 called a Raptor?
The F22 is called the Viper / Fighting Falcon now I guess
@pastas stabalot the latest version of the F-16's are the Vipers, many upgrades, the easiest to spot are the new conforming fuel tanks added on top of the fuselage.
since f22 started shooting ballons
This is the peak of “journalism “ lol
@im Savage 😂😂
Ive been in the service and I can tell you that they will also need lots of maintenance and maintenance personnel. I just dont see how they are going to accomplish this.
F-16 Raptor… yikes. Makes me concerned about the quality of research if you confused the F-16 with the F-22
Nobody will give F22 s to ukraine…
The year began and something is already making it better than the entire 2022. Amazons AVM23X came out and it's such a great thing no matter where you come from. Everyone can participate and it is making many things easier than they have been. For example I live in France and this is something no one else could do for me here, if I just keep sitting on my toes for the next 5 years I'd simply go broke, now I can change that.
The key issue is the f16s survivability against Russian air defences will be poor thus the plane will be ineffective. Neither side has air superiority due to strong air defences on both sides.
Western jets are sitting ducks to long range SAMs.
@Real Napster anything non 5th gen is. The survivability onion has "don't be seen" as the first layer for a reason
@3:00 _”Experts say Ukraine’s pilots will need extensive training of up to a year to use any Western aircraft effectively.”_ This has recently been proven wrong, Ukrainian pilots are becoming proficient with F-16s in as little as 3 months. It mainly depends on whether they know English, or how fast they can learn English, since F-16 user interfaces are in English. Otherwise they’re very quick to adapt to the F-16’s controls and avionics.
F16 needs long, maintained runaways. They are easily within missile striking distance. With the Gripen, they could land on almost every road, reloaded in record time, take off and land somewhere else without the enemy knowing
There are more Vipers than there are Griprens.
I would have liked a comparison with Gripen-E with skyward-G and Raven5 radar who can see stealth fighters and jam other planes radar.
I love it when non-pilot viewers give their two cents. It makes the entire circus conversation more entertaining. Flying a plane is not like driving a car. All planes use the same principle (physics wise) but not all are operated the same way. That is why pilots are TYPE-RATED. Every manufacturing company have their own principles as to how to operate their planes. Considering ukraine, ALL OF THEIR PILOTS HAVE NEVER FLOWN A LOCKHEED MARTIN jet. They have different procedures, call-outs, design philosophy, etc. No matter how great an F16 is, under the hands of an inexperienced pilot, it will become disastrous. It will take time to train ukrainian pilots and wash them out of their MIG-29 mentality.
Brilliant observation number 2. Ukraine doesn’t have the same capabilities as Russia. Pay that guy more he is a genius.
The f22 is called the Raptor 😁 A badass plane if ever there was one...
Some people are acting like western aircraft like the US made F-16, Swedish made JAS-39 Gripen, and British, German, and Italian made Eurofighter Typhoon are a magical solution to Russia's invasion, they're not...
They are fantastic aircraft, but they work best working as a team with other aircraft filling a bunch of different roles. Other aircraft like:
RC-135 Rivet Joint to electronically locate and identify Russian radars
EA-18G Growler to jam, suppress and destroy Russian radars
E-2 Hawkeye or E-3 Sentry for long range radar coverage and command and control
KC-10/KC-135 tankers to keep the plains fueled in the air for long periods of time
F-15 Eagles, F-16 Fighting Falcons, Rafales, JAS-39 Gripens, and Typhoon for air superiority and Close Air Support (CAS)
All working together in unison as a well coordinated team...
Ukraine doesn't have the manpower, time, or money to effectively build up an all new fully integrated Air Force, based around western doctrines...
And French Rafale, why is everyone acting like it doesn't exist while it's by far the best European jet fighter ?
The multi layered air defense systems is something the f16s would have to deal with even before an engagement with the su35..unless a significant force of western jets and trained pilots are put in place the small number would only drag on this war rather than giving the russians a significant blow..what is NATO's game plan with this, a prolonged and expanded war or a peacefull settlement?
Just because the F-16 was called the “Raptor” I’m calling this entire video illegitimate
Everyone is now expert and create YT videos to explain it to others about things they know nothing about. Or they do it for comments
Man that su 35 is beautiful.
You mean the SU 35 Corsair lol
Check out the SU 34. It’s called duck wings.
The F-16 is probably better being used for supporting a combined arms column.
Which they dont have either...
How about the F-14 Tomcat. Iran uses their vintage F-4s and F-14s and America still worries about them. The MIG 29 is the F-14s match. I'd like to find out what the outcome of the dogfight in Top Gun turns out in real life.
I really. don't think so, maybe the F16V could have chance. But the other once or the older model would be very difficult
Russia's never been about air superiority, they build anti air defenses, f-16 is a 50 year old plane without a useful range in ukraine, and the military industrial complex isn't eager to have the embarassment of shot down f-16's cutting into its sales.
You forgot the part where you had to rebuild all the Ukraine Runaways because they are so rugged and western Fighters can't handle rugged surfaces especially the F-16 with it's very close in undercarriage. It's like the modern equivalent of the me-109 plus all that debris it's going to be kicked up and ingested into the engine or utterly destroy the jet before it takes off
Runaways has been renovated now
Realy , Israel used F-16 in a role of wild weasel to destroy S-400 in Syria .
@Brian Cullen : Saab Gripen and Dassault Rafale, were designed to be able to land on public roads with the shortest distances of landing.
The Rafale is even capable to land on unpaved roads.
Have the pilots fly them out of Poland.Just don`t tell anyone.
I don't know why people seem to think Ukraine does not have functional runways. It is not some sort of monumental feat to rebuild/repair a runway back into functioning order, even for something like an F-16. USAF has publicly available reports on how to go about assessing and subsequently repairing the damage on a runway, and some of the patchwork solutions can have them airworthy within 4 hours in the event of an emergency. And its not just the US and its insane logistics capability that can perform something like that. Syria had an airbase that was saturated with cruise missiles and they were able to takeoff within 24 hours.
Hitting the infrastructure of an airbase like that is an effective strategy to momentarily handicap an opponents air force, and buy time for getting more friendly aircraft in the AO with limited contention from opposing air forces. Its not a permanent solution in crippling an air force. If a strategy this simple were that effective in completely negating the F-16s capabilities, it would not be the most popular fighter jet in the world.
dont matter who own the jets as they can be shot down like any other jet, next some will be asking if nuclear weapons could help
F-16 raptor? Man the JV team is really handling the content today…. Jeeesh
to fight against ukrussia
The F15 would probably be a better option. The USA wants to get rid of most of them, so Ukraine would be a great place to get rid of them. While the USA might think they are obsolete, the actual Russian aircraft we've seen in the conflict would still be no problem for the F15.
We need to get out of Ukraine and let them go on their own. We just spent 21 years and two wars that were a waste of human life and money. And now we're right back at it. How stupid are we, or very stupid
Ukraine should certainly buy all the F-16s or (other combat jets) it can afford. But they shouldn't expect free.
Fighter jets and long-range missiles.. ASEAN noted..🙏🇻🇳🇲🇲🇰🇭🇱🇦🇹🇭🇸🇬🇵🇭🇧🇳🇲🇾🇮🇩. 🇹🇱
Its a zero sum game to have aircraft because, the same tactics deployed to deny Russia air superiority will be used against Ukraine. Moreover, downing f-16 and getting some insights on it, jeopadizes the who partners operating them
Pretty sure Russia fully knows every part and working of F16. It's been there for decades.
This is a big issue. On level ground it's impossible to achieve air superiority. Ukraine would need 5th gen stealth fighters to be able to successfully counter area denying weapons. Otherwise the Russians and Ukrainians can simply rely on SAM networks
Ukraine would do best with the Saab Gripen E/F. Ukraine is a big country, it needs a plane that can cover big distances fast. Saab GripenE/F are supercruisers, that means they don't depend on their afterburners for supersonic speed. Afterburners are fuel hogs, they go through a plane's fuel supplies in minutes, thus a supercruiser has a much better range at supersonic speed. Besides Sidewinders and AMRAAM missiles they also can carry the Iris-T infrared seeking missile which truly is a no-escape weapon and the Meteor. Russia can fire radar seeking missiles at 60 miles? Congratulations! The RAF shot down a practice target at well over 130 miles with a Meteor.
Add to that the fact that the Gripen is made for full multirole capability, each fighter can also be flown in reconnaissance, ground attack and marine attack role.
In all these characteristics, it is the same as the Eurofighter. Eurofighters are even faster, have greater maneuverability at higher supersonic speed, probably somewhat better radar and have full coverage of their surroundings with both active and passive sensors to detect enemies. Iris-T is integrated so fully with the Eurofighter´s systems that it can attack targets _behind_ the plane, although its own sensors "only" cover 90° from its line of sight. A fighter chasing a Eurofighter and closing in already is in the Eurofighter's corsshairs.
But Eurofighters are well over two times more expensive in operation cost per hour than the Gripen E/F.
Add to that the Swedish doctrine that their air force has to be able to operate from country roads, an environment of poor runway quality. Ukraine's runways aren't exactly in pristine condition and not having safe remote bases may force Ukraine's air force to operated from improvised motorway runways. The necessities of Sweden's air force actually aren't too different from Ukraine's.
Gripen E/Fs would be helpful there.
It all depends on the number of fighters that they can give, and on missiles.
If they give 150-200 modern fighters with meteor missiles, it will be very dangerous for Russian pilots, and may turn the tide.
But Russia has cruise and tactical missiles, the primary goal will be to strike airfields. Ukraine may try to use the road network to land and take off fighters, but then they will not be able to take off too often, the efficiency of their maintenance will be low. In addition, a modern fighter is a very difficult technique to maintain, many times more difficult than a tank or artillery, it is more difficult to train specialists than pilots (perhaps of course Western countries will send their specialists)
@Jawzzy Claiming that Ukraine started this war is the height of denial.
Russia has a very large air force and hasn't been able to dominate the skies for one reason, Soviet ear s300 missiles.After a year Ukraine is finally coming to the end of their s300 missile Inventory, and now advanced Russian air power can join in on the Land assault taking place right now in Ukraine. the Russian advanced S400 missile system Has not seen much in action because Ukraine has no air
force, They have a large inventory of these missiles which have a much greater range than any missile on F-16 can carry, in other words the advanced S400 will shoot down every F-16 before it even gets close enough to engage the Russian aircraft
F-15EX would be the top choice that can be exported to Ukraine. A few dozen could be delivered within a few months, while pilots are trained to fly them.
The Ukranians are not getting top of the line F-16s nor top of the line F-15EXs.
You missed the most important point. With very little training F16s could fire HARM missiles with great effect. Firing them from modified MiG29s really does not work.
The Russians have the advantage of a huge connected radar network in place at the battlefield which will see the F-16 minutes after take-off until an S-400 missile intrudes its rear.
I do not know much about radars and recon overall, but from what I have heard, the intel is on Ukraine side, as they get info from NATO radars and such (placed in other European countries), which may be further from the area of combat, but is very effective.
@Daniel Vlk
The problem for Ukraine is, the radar systems of the West are not connected to equipment of Ukraine (I don't know about Himars though, Patriots are not yet there as far as I know, at least not in significant numbers). So these systems are not connected and these defense weapons work solely which complicates the effectiveness.
the most updated version of the f-16 with comparable armaments can easily defeat an su-35, without question.
Have US contractors who are recently retired fighter pilots join up with Ukraine military and they can fly against the Russians in F-16's.
The SU35 can shoot at the F16 without even crossing the Russian border. This isn't the answer Ukraine is looking for.
More drones, more long range ground to ground, and more long range SAMs.
If WSJ cant even get the name of the F16 right, then it makes you think what else they got completely wrong in this video.
Russian equivalent is the mig 29 not su35
Russia is not sending Mig-29
That's true but f16 has got many blocks and is still manufactured today. The mig-29 was decommissioned long ago.
@Jarvis B. now its the mig 35
@Nafis Fuad Ayon omg I’m dumb I meant mig 31
You're afraid of "escalating the war?" What more can Russia do that they haven't already done? As Perun said it, letting Russia think it has a fighting chance is itself a form of escalation
Respected Sir,
Bangalore is the first forcedly to be used in rescue operation.
In my opinion, a Eurofighter or a Gripen would be much better for Ukraine than the F16s that America would give. The F16s that the US could offer is pretty old. Additionally (In my opinion) the Eurofighters and the Gripens that are up for grabs are more of a match to the Su 35 than the old F16s that the US is willing to give up. If the US is going to give newer F16's it'd be a different story though.
Doubt it matters
Russia is very far behind technology
They just recently capture a stinger and a javlin and sent it to Iran to see they if Iran could mass produce some equivalent for Russia, those are pretty old systems
Ofc i dont compare javlin and stingers with any Aircraft, but it still shows the production capabilities of Russia, that they ask Iran for help about it
Also btw Russia have always been a country that knowingly overstate their product capabilities as oppose to U.S which most of the time will understate their products stats in most cases if they mention it at all
@cookie Cola you really are still trapped in the 90's arent you? World has changed buddy. You might want to see whats happened out there. Its not good for us.
Oh and you might want to speak with our own service members about the current state of the military sometime. Its you who are overstating...pretty much everything now.
@Operator 9😂
Hilarious to read, without any explanation, all i got from you is that you tok it very personally
Boy-oboy, mb go and lay down for a nap mate, then explain something
Its all about the ordenance ! The meteor missile could help Ukraine alot against the Russian jets and missiles ---
Can this missile be fitted to any NATO jet ?
I know the Gripen E can carry 7 meteor
Gripen E would be the very best jet for Ukraine but there are none availiable
Yeah, I think the Gripen would be better than the f-16 for Ukraine.
People often also forget, that you maybe can use 1/3 of your air force, because rest is maybe under maintenance, refueling etc. So Russia can use like 300 of its 1100, then we also know how bad russia is at maintenance, so you could probably take away some more.
F-16 Raptor, lol. Quality journalism!
You still need pilots trained to fly those jets, if they have no experience in that plane it’s worthless
Any person with a decent military education understands that a country with more than seven thousand active nuclear warheads simply cannot lose the war. Anyone who knows our past history well will understand that Russia is no exception.,......♠
When it is lavish but free then it surely make a difference..😅😅😂😂
It's a much better option to modify/upgrade their Migs and Su's Airpower will not win the war alone. They need to use their Su-25, Su-27, Su-35 and the Mig-29. Not the F-16
This is going to be just like the Leopard 2. Ukraine is getting only a few advanced models like the 2A6. But what we hear about the current transfers, is all 2A4, which is the original model. NOT the same at ALL!
For most small militaries, the old F-18s that Canada still uses until we get the F-35s, are pretty decent planes and still valuable in some environments. The F-16 is the same thing. Some of them are just as old as our F-18s, which even with the upgrades, are NOT front line fighters anymore, at least not against a near peer opponent. So YEAH, F-16s COULD be a major improvement, but it all depends on WHICH BLOCK!
FYI Ukraine does hold more air superiority over its skies with western and hundreds of anti air infantry and vehicles as such. You still see ukrainian helicopters and jets used often, havent seen russian in 2 months
Su35 is an amazing machine
Yeah , its so amazing ,
That it was shot down by Stinger missile .
Yeah most maneuvarable in the world tbh i like Sukhois bit more than nato fighters
@Wieslaw Maciag a f16/15/a10/fa18 e.t.c would also be shot down similarly tbh
@Wieslaw Maciag its an anti aircraft missile ofc it could shoot down a jet that is what it was made for every other plane would be the same.
i feel like Sukhoi planes look better lol
You don't just need F16s, you need the early airborne command and control to make your Jets effective. Give them a couple of wedge tails along with F16s.
And a runway, atc and air defence, logistics and maintenance experts.
Maybe these geniuses in the Pentagon can explain how they expect Ukraine to keep safe without modern NATO-standard fighter aircraft once Russia has been expelled.
Obviously they can no longer base their air defence on aged Soviet kit. So either they get Western fast jets, or they never get rid of the Russian threat. Just get it done.
How is the Su35 a competitor to the F16? They are different types of airplanes and intended for different roles. The F16 is closer to the Mig 29. They serve the same role.
Suhois are big birds. In BVR they decisively lost to small gripens which had more advanced missiles, radar and far smaller cross-section. In dogfights they actually came of top because of their super maneuverability, but most of air combat today is done BVR.
those sukhois that lost were old j-11a that dont have modern equipment
Su 35 is a different level vs f16 however Euro fighter would be a good match vs Su 35
F16s would be like having more Mig 29s
Don't worry about jets. There are too many SAM systems to allow fixed wing aircraft to be effective. Devote those monies to more Himars rockets, more hand grenades, more mortar and artillery rounds...AND SWITCHBLADE STYLE DRONES...the bigger models.
End this calamity.
This feels like a prime example of the sunken cost fallacy
Ukraine's geography is really bad for fighter planes since most of their terrain are flat which would make fighters have to fight in open air without anywhere to take cover like mountains for instance this would mean that having planes shot down with missiles is easier than normal this would explain how Russia is losing so much planes and tanks since the terrain is not fit for these machines.
Everything depends on pilots !!
It's like putting fuel to fire hoping the fire will die but it will only make the fire bigger and more aggressive
You forgot to put quotation marks around that Xi Jinping quotation.
Hope we can send some Eurofighters also.
as a patriot of Russia - I insist - please give to ukraine as much jet fighters as you can! we have alot of S400 and Pantsir M to shot down all that rrrubish...
Junk F35 , F22 also
One aircraft that Ukraine should be requesting instead of F-16 or highspeed fighter jets. Ukraine should be asking for 2 dozen A-10 Warthogs or the new Super A-10 Warthogs. These angels would be cheaper, simplier to maintain, easier to learn and far more effective against Russian battlefield strategy and tactics currently being used in Eastern and Southern Ukraine. They can use a wide variety of modern armaments, even take out Russian radar sites, before the radar sees the warthog. They could even help eliminate the Black Sea fleet.
A10 is a heavy attack and bomber jet. Ukraine cannot use it because russia will just shoot it down with it's own jets or s400
A-10 Warthogs work great when you have air superiority. Ukraine doesn’t have it, period.
@Segallion Gaming Russia also does not have air superority
Wouldn't it be easier to help upgrade the Mig29s and SU27s with better radars and weapons?
The issue is Ukraine is running out of as. Pretty much all ex-Warsaw Soviet fighters have been transfered to Ukraine already.
The rebuild idea is a good one, but rewiring a Soviet-designed aircraft with western avionics, radar, and weapons is also a multi-year (if not a decade-long) engineering project before production could even begin. Kind of a square peg-round hole problem.
"It's not the plane, it's the pilot" - Some movie that came out recently.
"Top Gun : Maverick"
@Vishal Rao I know...
I think the F35 Tomcat would be a better option for Ukraine 😂
Lol
Kyiv needs f-16 yesterday or 1 year ago. Do it asap
Sure, because learning a completely different fighter platform is like learning how to use a different coffee maker… yeesh
The problem aren’t the opposing jets but all the air defences both have.
Taking out air defense is top priority.
@pak kslac Yh but doing it is the real difficulty especially when they can replace it and move easily since it’s on the border.(Russia with themselves, Ukraine with NATO)
Ukraine seems to have shown
not that "Air Superiority " matters
But that " Air Denial " matters
Volantem Significant Mori
Even if they Give them Fighter jets they will still ask for more and more what next ?? send them our latest Aircraft Carrier?? I think Other than ammo they had enough