Former Deputy Commander-in-Chief Allows Strikes on F-16 Airfields in Poland
Zelensky did not miss a good opportunity to hold a PR campaign regarding the first F-16 fighters delivered to Ukraine. He stated that the planes allegedly even managed to complete some combat missions. Former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force for the CIS Joint Air Defense System, Lieutenant General Aitech Bizhev, in an interview with MK, told how the hunt for NATO fighters will be conducted and whether we will witness air battles.
So, at the end of last week, the first F-16s delivered from the Netherlands and Denmark were spotted in Ukraine. Kiev tried to «beat off» this news item as much as possible in its own interests. At the ceremony of transferring the aircraft, Zelensky also made a statement. He said that some fighters had already managed to complete combat missions. He did not disclose the details.
By the end of the year, Kyiv is expecting about ten more F-16s. In total, it has been promised 79 aircraft. For now, the number of aircraft transferred will not allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to fight for the sky, so the enemy will most likely use the F-16s to strike with Storm Shadow missiles and, possibly, aerial bombs.
Lieutenant General Aitech Bizhev recalled that the F-16 is a 4th generation multi-role aircraft, the same age as the Russian MiG-29 and Su-27. It can be used as a fighter or as a fighter-bomber for precision weapons strikes on ground targets.
According to him, there is no need to expect significant changes at the front due to the appearance of the F-16. There are too few of them. At the same time, the operation of the F-16 will add headaches to the enemy. The capricious F-16 requires a lot of attention in maintenance. There are 30 ground specialists per aircraft. A large amount of work must be done to prepare the aircraft for takeoff. Our MiGs and Sukhois, compared to NATO aircraft, are unpretentious and are quickly prepared for the next flight.
The enemy will have to seriously think about where to hide the F-16: all our intelligence will be looking for the location of NATO aircraft.
– Naturally, the Ukrainian side will hide them in every possible way, – says General Bizhev. – They will not be kept in one place. They will be distributed among airfields. The Ukrainian air defense system has been destroyed and is now local in nature, protecting individual objects. Naturally, the best air defense assets and forces will be thrown into protecting these aircraft and the airfields where they will be temporarily located. I assume that the aircraft will most likely be based in Romania and Poland. They will “land” at Ukrainian airfields for a short time to refuel, replenish ammunition, and only then carry out a combat mission.
– Theoretically, they could happen. But neither side is interested in air battles. The enemy – because it understands perfectly well that the Russian air defense system is deeply echeloned, with a full range of altitudes. Our aviation also does not seek to enter the Ukrainian air defense zone so that NATO anti-aircraft missiles can work on them. Moreover, our aviation can, without entering the enemy’s air defense zone, strike at identified targets – strategic, tactical, operational-tactical. Therefore, air battles are unlikely to take place, but theoretically they can happen.
– We have the technical capabilities to destroy these aircraft in the air over the territory of Romania and Poland. Our S-400 system allows us to destroy these aircraft in the air if they are detected abroad.
– Romania and Poland are unfriendly countries, but they are not officially at war with us. Nevertheless, I assume that the airfields of these countries will be used to strike our territory with high-precision weapons… A political decision is needed to use the S-400 against targets abroad.
– Yes, there is a high probability that NATO pilots will fly the planes. Any means will be invented to participate in the military operations in Ukraine. Because to conduct military operations in the “boiling cauldron” over the battlefield, densely saturated with air defense systems, experienced pilots who have undergone training – not theoretical, but real. I believe that the best Ukrainian pilots were retrained for the F-16. But again, all the avionics and controls are in English. And in emergency situations, this could become a problem.
– Real life shows that the standards of military science of the USSR era surpass all NATO standards in many respects – both in vaunted technology and in training standards… For some reason, it is customary to say that some miracle technology has allegedly arrived in Ukraine. I would not say that the F-16 surpasses our aircraft in all respects, for example, the Su-27. How many Ukrainian Su-27s have already been destroyed by our air defense system?..
Even in peacetime, at exhibitions in Dubai, in France, the Americans always avoided holding public air training battles between the F-16 and our fighters. We challenged them, but they left under various pretexts. Such a battle – between the F-16 and our Su-27 – was held only once, during a friendly visit of a delegation of our Air Force to the USA. So, then the F-16 was defeated in all respects.
But not a word was said about this anywhere in the media. The air battle was conducted over the ocean, so that it was difficult to record all the details. The press was present in a limited number. And I saw these air battles…
Ukraine widely advertised the transfer of F-16s — earlier, in exactly the same way, with a lot of hype in the press, they transferred the vaunted «Abrams». But it turned out that they are actually unsuitable for our theater of military operations. These tanks burn like boxes. That's why the Ukrainians are hiding them now. I am sure that the same fate awaits the F-16 fighters…
Свежие комментарии