In a surprise that contradicted expectations, Ukraine began its counterattack without waiting for the arrival of F-16 aircraft from its allies, in a move that military experts disagreed about its impact on the results of this attack.
The estimates of experts from Ukraine and the United States, who spoke to “Sky News Arabia”, ranged between launching the counterattack devoid of these fighters to secure the skies of the Ukrainian front as “collective suicide”, and that their use did not make a difference due to their weakness in front of the Russian fighters, in addition to their exorbitant cost. And the pilots need a long time to train on it.
The Ukrainian authorities have high hopes of obtaining the American-made F-16 within months, especially since most of its air fleet dates back to the Soviet era.
Ukraine’s weapons in the attack
In its counterattack, it is expected that the Ukrainian forces will use their old Soviet weapons, along with modern launchers and advanced weapons provided by their allies from NATO countries, most notably:
Su-25 attack fighters and MiG-29 interceptors.
• Turkish “Bayraktar-2” drones.
• US “HIMARS” and “Patriot” missile launchers.
Soviet “S-300” surface-to-air missiles.
• French “Caesar” cannons, “Beaufort-L-70” and another “M777”.
• American missiles “HARM”.
• Gvozdica cannons and howitzers of the D-30 and D-20 models.
• Soviet “T-72” tanks, the German “Leopard 2” and the American “Abrams”.
• American “M-113” and “Bradley” vehicles, and German “Marder” combat vehicles.
• The British “Challenger 2”, “Storm-Shadow” and the American “Javelin” anti-tank missiles, as well as the Swedish “Carl Gustav” rifles.
• “Striker” personnel carriers and “MRAPs” mine-resistant vehicles.
Last Wednesday, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov confirmed, in an interview with NHK, that his country would not be able to use the F-16 in its counterattack. Because training pilots and technicians takes time, they are likely to be used next fall or winter.
“military disaster”
The retired Ukrainian major general, Sergey Krivonos, warned during an interview with the TV channel “Priamoy” against continuing the attack without these fighters, saying: “We were hoping to get the” F-16 “but it was decided not to provide us with it.”
Referring to the seriousness of the situation, according to what he sees, he added: “If I were in the position of military leadership, I would have ordered the cancellation of all movements, because with the current weapons, the counterattack could turn into a disaster, because it would become an easy target for the Russian army,” according to the Russian “Novosti” agency.
It will not change the equation of war.
Contrary to this pessimism, the American military expert, Peter Alex, supports launching the counterattack before the arrival of the F-16, justifying this by saying to Sky News Arabia:
• Training pilots on professional sorties will take several months.
• Giving Ukraine old versions of the “F-16” that will not enable it to keep up with modern Russian aircraft.
• The cost of operating, maintaining and maintaining the advanced “F-16” and its ammunition amounted to about $200 million during the year.
• Supporting Ukraine with the “F-16” may escalate the pace of the war, while it will not give the army superiority on the ground.
air tie
Military analyst John Courtney agrees with Alex on some points, adding:
• These fighters may provide air parity only in terms of distancing the Russian Air Force as much as possible, but they are unable to keep up with the Russian warplanes.
• Western weapons of long-range “air-to-air” missiles, model “AIM-120”, are an ideal choice for the Ukrainian forces.
After US permission, Norway announced the sale of 32 used F-16 fighters to Romania, and the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gar Storr, did not rule out handing them over to Ukraine, according to European media.
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2023-06-12 06:04:47
