Why Zelensky Calls For F-16s (Lockheed Martin Speeds Up Production)
After receiving the heavy tank commitment, Ukraine is now looking for fourth-generation Western fighter aircraft such as the US F-16. Facts, numbers and insights
Ukraine targets F-16 fighter jets after securing Western tanks.
Germany and the United States are preparing to send the tanks — Leopard 2 and Abrams — but there is already talk of the possible supply of other firepower, namely fighter planes.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for more assistance. Russia has stepped up attempts to break through Ukraine's defenses with heavy fighting in the country's east, underscoring Kiev's need for more Western weapons, Ukrainian officials warn.
Kiev seems confident that, as with Western tanks, it will eventually receive F-16s as well.
But the usefulness of fighter jets for Ukraine is a matter of debate and depends on the aircraft, its weapons and flight conditions, experts note.
All the details.
ZELENSKY SECURED TANKS
Berlin announced Wednesday it would send 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine — and allow others to send their own German-made tanks into the country — while Washington announced plans to send 31 Abrams tanks.
After weeks of pressure from allies, Germany and the United States have therefore promised Ukraine dozens of modern tanks to help push back Russian forces, paving the way for Canada, Poland, Finland, Norway and others to commit to this front.
But now that it has secured tanks, Kiev would also like to receive fighter jets. Like the F-16 Fighting Falcon, a multi-role fighter developed by Lockheed Martin for the US Air Force. On the other hand, the Ukrainian leaders have been requesting it since the beginning of the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine last February.
KIEV'S CLAIMS
“We will have F-16s,” Yuriy Sak, adviser to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, convinced CNBC on Thursday.
Sak said that Kiev expected a similar approach to the tank issue, essentially allies reluctant to supply fighter aircraft to Ukraine before any deal to do so, but said there was hope that, in this case , the decision was faster. "Hopefully there won't be the same mistakes, because we'll have the F-16s," he said. "If we take them [referring to Western fighter jets], the advantages on the battlefield will simply be immense … It's not just the F-16: fourth-generation aircraft, this is what we want" Ukrainian adviser Sak always reiterated to Reuters .
And the Ukrainian official said he expects the United States to play a key role in unlocking the decision to supply fighter jets.
THE POSITION OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
If last year's delivery of fighter planes was appealed by the Pentagon press secretary "high risk", now Jon Finer, the US deputy national security adviser, says that "they did not rule out either in or out any specific systems”, including the F-16, recalls CNN .
US President Joe Biden's administration is ready to consider supplying Ukraine with any type of weapon system. This was stated yesterday by the deputy spokesperson for the US Defense Department, Sabrina Singh, commenting on the possibility of a transfer of F-16 fighters to Kiev, as reported by Agenzia Nova .
“I don't think we ever drew any lines. We will not remove anything from the table. We've transferred air defense systems. As for the next steps (…) I do not intend to anticipate any (military aid) package that has not already been announced, nor any decision by the president or the secretary of defense,” Singh added.
LOCKHEED MARTIN TO SPEED UP F-16 PRODUCTION IN SUPPORT OF UKRAINE
Meanwhile, major US defense contractor Lockheed Martin wants to be ready.
The company will accelerate production of F-16 fighters to supply countries that decide to transfer them to Ukraine, the company's chief operating officer, Frank St. John, told the Financial Times newspaper.
In particular, the Lockheed Martin manager said: "We will accelerate the production of F-16s in Greenville in order to be in a position to easily supply any country that decides to make transfers to third parties to help (Ukraine) in the current conflict" . Furthermore, Frank St. John specified that Lockheed Martin "is not directly involved in talks" regarding the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine.
THE COMMENT OF THE ANALYST
But like many other Western weapons supplied thus far, the F-16 is unlikely to be a game changer in the conflict.
Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow at the British think tank RUSI, commented on Twitter that the Ukrainian Air Force would greatly benefit from Western fighters in terms of air-to-air and potentially air-to-ground lethality. At the same time he highlighted that they would be a high-risk target for Russian surface-to-air missiles. The fighters would have to fly very low near the front line, which would "drastically reduce the effective range of the missiles and limit attack options" according to Bronk.
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES THAT HAVE F-16
Finally, some European countries are considering sending F-16s to Ukraine. Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said last week that the Netherlands would consider any request to send F-16s with an "open mind" and that there were "no taboos" on military support.
In addition to the Netherlands, seven other European NATO countries fly F-16s, including Poland, Norway and Romania. However, the US government must approve sales or transfers of American-made fighter jets to third countries. This means that European countries would need political support from the Biden administration.
PRACTICAL ISSUES
But “with or without authorization, sending fighters to Kiev in itself involves a series of logistical complications, underlines ISPI (Institute for International Political Studies).
“Ukraine lacks suitable runways for F-16s to take off and any attempt to build them would be easily detectable (and targetable) by the Russians. Furthermore, their use requires months of training: if a period of several weeks is foreseen for tanks (12 for Leopards and 22 for Abrams), learning to fly F-16s takes up to 9 months” he put in light the institute.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/perche-zelensky-invoca-gli-f-16-lockheed-martin-accelera-la-produzione/ on Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:36:49 +0000.