Ukraine needs slow delivery of F-16s: former NATO commanders explained why
Date: 2024-07-04 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: MILITARY ASSISTANCE
Ukraine is set to receive its long-awaited F-16 jets later this year after it requested the multi-role fighters in the early stages of the Russian invasion.
The wait is necessary to ensure the aircraft's effectiveness, two key ex-NATO leaders say, Aviation Week & Space Technology writes.
Todd Walters, who retired as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe and head of U.S. European Command in July 2022, said there had been persistent calls both within the U.S. and in Europe to send the planes much faster than the current plan.
"There were a lot of people across the country, in the United States and in several [European Union] countries who wanted the F-16 to arrive in Kyiv as soon as possible," Walters said during a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event on July 2.
He noted that the Russian air force can be effective, and "we didn't want to offer an olive branch of immediate strategic failure to give the Russians an advantage."
“These systems must be maintainable and resilient in a wartime environment, and then the environment that receives them must be mature enough to move aircraft to multiple bases and still be able to maintain them to the point where they can become airworthy.” " says Walters.
He believes Ukrainian pilots need intensive training to be able to fly the plane effectively, even if they have extensive experience flying other Soviet-era models.
"Most people think you can sit an Air Force pilot in the corner of a room, sprinkle salt and pepper on his head, and within two seconds you have a lethal product that can come out and hit the enemy," he says. "It takes time, it takes training, and that's what happens very harshly in the United States and in many of our European countries."
Former U.S. Air Force Gen. Jeff Harrigian, who retired in July 2022 as commander of all U.S. Air Forces in Europe, says the training is aimed at ensuring Ukrainian pilots develop trust and confidence in the F-16 and an understanding of what he will have limitations in battle.
"In my opinion, this is the skin in the game, not only from the US point of view, but also from the NATO countries, what is happening today at the European Training Center in Romania. This is a great place where they can come together, do the kind of mind meld that is required, to make sure that collectively we understand where they are, they understand where they are, and now they can move away wisely over time,” he added.
