A Ukrainian pilot's message: F‑16s and American aid
One of the Ukrainian pilots who usually sits behind the controls of an F-16 fighter jet shared an unusual video on social media. Through it, he addressed the United States and expressed gratitude for the military assistance provided to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian expressed gratitude on his Instagram profile, emphasizing that the support received is essential in the fight for democracy. Along with sharing the video, he thanked supporters and highlighted the collective effort toward victory.
The Ukrainian pilot addressed the US directly from the F-16 cockpit
The material prepared by the Ukrainian was in response to Donald Trump's recent decision to cut Ukraine off from further supplies of American equipment. The pilot posted photos from the cockpit of the F-16 fighter jet, along with a short video of a flight over Ukraine, showing that American combat aircraft help defend the country against Russian aggression.
It's important to note that the F-16 fighters are delivered to Ukraine by the so-called aviation coalition, which includes European countries. However, the United States had to approve this, just as with other equipment produced overseas.
The leaders in this effort are the Netherlands and Denmark, which have already delivered 12 of the 19 promised F-16 fighters to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Belgium encountered issues with transferring F-16s to the front. They had declared their readiness to provide Ukraine with 30 F-16s, but in February, they announced that this would happen by the end of the year at the earliest.
Western combat aircraft in Ukraine
The F-16 is one of the two NATO combat aircraft available to Ukraine. At the beginning of the year, Kyiv received the first few Mirage 2000-5F fighters.
The Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighters can reach speeds of about 2205 km/h and operate at altitudes up to about 15,000 metres. The F-16s delivered to Ukraine are modified F-16A/B MLU (Mid-Life Update) variants. They are equipped with enhanced radars and are adapted to work with AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles with a range of about 100 km.
F-16s offer significantly greater capabilities than the Soviet-era aircraft that Ukraine relied on before the war (and still essentially does), but the conflict has shown that they aren't perfect. The main drawback of these machines is the lack of a Link-16 communication system, which Ukrainian experts have repeatedly pointed out. According to "The Wall Street Journal," it was for this reason that one of the F-16s was shot down by Patriot system missiles.
