Ukraine faces many challenges when putting F-16 into combat

In many ways, the US-made F-16 is the ideal weapon for Ukraine. It has multiple roles: it can provide close air support for troops, attack ground targets, destroy enemy aircraft and intercept missiles. And it is also available in the arsenals of European air forces, which are phasing them out. There is a ready supply of spare parts; and the F-16 can operate with a wide range of weapons systems.

Ukraine desperately needs the F-16, as it faces Russian air superiority, especially on the southern front. This superiority has hampered Ukrainian counter-offensives and inflicted heavy casualties on Ukrainian units. With the right weapons, the F-16 could keep Russian bombers out of the theater. But when the F-16s will be deployed depends on a number of factors—how early training programs are underway, whether there is a support infrastructure in place, and what weapons are deployed. There is a delicate balance between the urgent need to get the F-16s into service in Ukrainian colors and the careful preparation to make the most of the aircraft’s superiority. Then there is the question of how many F-16s will make a difference on the battlefield. Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have pledged to provide Ukraine with more than 60 aircraft, but some will have to be used for training and will have maintenance cycles.

The reality is that the F-16 has never encountered Russian air defenses, and it is crucial to establish the best role it can play. “The idea of ​​an F-16 flying over the front line and breaking the stalemate is just not feasible—it’s too dangerous, because Russian air defenses are so formidable,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). “Ukraine will have to get used to an aircraft that has a lot of systems that they have never seen before,” Cancian said.

Additionally, while highly effective, the F-16 requires more maintenance than conventional Soviet-era fighters, which will pose a challenge for Ukrainian forces operating the aircraft. Cancian estimates that the F-16 requires 16 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight. At a cost of nearly $27,000 per hour, it is also expensive to operate. A report last year by US officials ranked the F-16 as one of the most difficult aircraft in the US Air Force to maintain: it has failed to achieve its mission objectives in any of the past 10 years./.