(April 26, 2023 at 10:15 am)The Grand Nudger Wrote: The article points out that the problem is not actually the -task- of cleaning up or lengthening runways - or a "problem with the f-16". Monkeys can do this. It's that it would be highly visible, and so present a clear target for russian strikes.
It would make sense, truly, if russia hasn;t always had clear targets within reach and opted to shell apartment complexes and hospitals and schools, instead. I doubt there would even be a ukrainian force left to go begging for f16s if they'd dropped all of that on the heads of the actual forces, logistics hubs, and production centers that ukr relies on. I get why russia is fucking up this way, because some criminal back in moscow has dibs on the facilities and gear..but it seems like a particularly good way to lose a war to me.
Another factor is that the F-16’s are virtually defenseless toward Russian SAM batteries. One retired pilot says that “They don’t even have a fighting chance”
Yet some are relativizing this point of view by saying that the training of Ukrainian Pilots who know how to operate Soviet-Era fighter jets would only take 2 to 6 months and that the F-16 would provide to the Ukrainians some of the capacities they need:
www.yahoo.com/news/us-supply-f-16-fighter-142118992.html
Also the problem with the fleet of the USAF is that it is rapidly aging and is losing its advantage toward the PLA Airforce which has a rapidly growing fleet of J-20’s with underground bunkers in mainland China that will protect these planes from US + Allies missile barrages.
So one approach could be to deliver these to Ukraine / Taiwan + other countries in need while switching to F-35’s + the next-next generation fighter that is set to make its appearance in the 2030’s.
If I am reading this correctly China is set to become a formidable military adversary in the next decade.