Ukraine's F-16 Success Relies on Key StrategyâWar Analysts
Ukraine will need to take out Russia's key air defense systems deep behind the front lines to keep its new F-16 fighter jets operational, according to a new analysis, as the U.S.-made aircraft take to Ukraine's skies.
Kyiv will "notably need to continue efforts to target Russian air defense assets within the Russian rear and in occupied Ukraine with Western-provided long-range weapons to enable its use of F-16 jets," the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank, said on Sunday.
Ukraine publicly confirmed on Sunday that it had received its first F-16s after days of speculation and statements from officials outside of the country.
"F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it," said Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky. "I am proud of all our guys who have mastered these aircraft and have already started using them for our country."
The F-16s can carry a range of weapons, including Western short- and long-range missiles.
Ukraine is permitted to use long-range Western weapons on Russian targets in Moscow-held Ukraine and in Crimea, but not on Russian assets inside its internationally-recognized borders. Kyiv has called for these restrictions to be lifted.
Though not a gamechanger in themselves, the jets will be a significant upgrade to Ukraine's Soviet-era air force, battered by nearly two and a half years of full-scale war with Russia's superior and more numerous fleet.
But the Lockheed Martin-made aircraft, which are the most significant aid commitment from Kyiv's Western backers, are an attractive target for Moscow—both militarily, and for propaganda purposes.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said following initial reports that the fourth-generation jets had arrived in Ukraine that Russian soldiers had already been offered rewards for destroying F-16s. Kyiv has indicated some of the aircraft will be stored at bases outside Ukraine's borders to protect the aircraft.
F-16s will be an "absolute magnet for Russian air defenses and Russian aircraft," Frank Ledwidge, senior lecturer in Law and War Studies at Portsmouth University in the U.K. and a former British military intelligence officer, previously told Newsweek.
Kyiv has repeatedly targeted Russian advanced air defense systems, often reporting in recent months that its forces have successfully struck anti-aircraft systems in Russian-held territory. On Saturday, Ukraine's military said it had "significantly damaged" four missile launchers belonging to a Russian S-400 air defense system in Crimea, which Moscow annexed a decade ago.
The S-400, sometimes referred to as a "Triumf" system, has been a priority target for Ukraine in the past year.
A pr-Kyiv partisan group operating in Crimea said in late July that Moscow was redeploying air defenses to protect the Kerch Bridge—also known as the Crimean Bridge—that links eastern Crimea to mainland Russia.
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