US confirms not using F-35 in Ukraine
(Baonghean.vn) - The US denied that F-35 fighter jets flew over Ukraine after Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen claimed that the advanced fighter jets were being used to monitor Russian troops in the region.
Minister Eng Hen made the remarks last week when addressing Parliament on the importance of long-term planning in the defence industry. He specifically mentioned that Singapore is closely evaluating the US-made F-35, especially when using it in real-world conditions.
Singapore’s defense minister noted that the US has used F-35s not only to kill Islamic State (IS) terrorists in the Middle East, but also “to locate and identify surface-to-air missile sites of Russian units in Ukraine.” However, Minister Eng Hen did not specify whether an F-35 had ever flown into Ukrainian airspace or whether the flights were conducted over NATO territory.
On March 4 local time, a Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on Eng Hen's statement but emphasized "I can confirm that the US does not use F-35s in Ukraine."
Last March, the C4ISRNET website quoted Colonel Craig Andrle, commander of the 388th Fighter Wing, as saying that the US had used F-35s to gather intelligence on “threats” in Ukraine and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The fighter jets “can locate and identify surface-to-air missile sites and relay that information to the rest of the coalition,” the article said.
But while Andrle stressed that the F-35 could be a formidable warfighting asset without firing a shot thanks to its intelligence-gathering capabilities, it sometimes struggled to track Russian positions. Colonel Andrle recalled that the F-35 failed to identify the Russian S-300 missile system because it was capable of “operating in a war reserve mode that we had never seen before.”
Since the Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022, NATO has increased its air presence in Eastern Europe, deploying more fighter jets and surveillance aircraft. The US-led military bloc is using Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft equipped with long-range radar to conduct regular patrols.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last year that NATO countries were acting as if they were “enemies” of Russia, noting that their reconnaissance activities were running around the clock against Moscow.
Meanwhile, the West is also planning to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, which are expected to be delivered by the end of the year. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the planes would be “legitimate targets” for the Russian military, adding that such a move would only increase the risk of direct conflict between Russia and NATO./.
