The Ukrainian Air Force has started using F-16 fighter jets to strike Russian ground targets, the Air Force disclosed on 26 March. Seven months after their combat debut in August, Ukraine’s Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters are now executing multiple sorties daily.
In the first official interview with a Ukrainian F-16 pilot, the Air Force revealed that pilots flying Western fighter jets have shown “impressive results in combat operations against both air and ground targets.”
“If we want, our bomb can fly through someone’s window,” the F-16 pilot told the Ukrainian Air Force, referring to the precision-guided munitions now in use.
Militarnyi notes that Ukrainian F-16s are armed with high-precision aerial bombs, including glide bombs such as SDB and JDAM-ER. Recently, a photo emerged showing a Ukrainian F-16 equipped with BRU-61 pylons carrying four GBU-39/B SDB bombs each on two hardpoints.
The American-made SDB bomb weighs 130 kg, and has a maximum flight range of up to 110 km when dropped from high altitude. For maximum effectiveness during combat missions, Ukrainian pilots must approach their targets, potentially exposing themselves to enemy aircraft missiles and ground-based air defense systems, according to Militarnyi.
The F-16s are also equipped with air-to-air missiles including AIM-120C, AIM-9M, and AIM-9X. The AIM-120 AMRAAM is a supersonic medium-range air-to-air missile that forms the backbone of long-range capabilities for most Western fighters against aerial targets.
Aerial reconnaissance
Ukrainian F-16s carry out a variety of tasks: destroying Russian one-way attack drones, jamming Russian radars with electronic warfare pods, deploying precision bombs, and likely using self-protection systems to locate Russian air defenses.
“We constantly perform flights for aerial reconnaissance,” the Ukrainian F-16 pilot said in the interview. “We perform flights for electronic reconnaissance.”
Forbes says Ukraine has not received specialized reconnaissance F-16s with underbelly cameras or radar pods. Instead, its fleet of about 16 F-16s, part of 85 surplus jets pledged by Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway, is equipped with AIM-9 infrared-guided missiles, AIM-120 radar-guided missiles, SDB glide bombs, and AN/ALQ-131 electronic warfare pods that jam radar systems.
The AN/ALQ-131 pods can “a pocket of air superiority for a moment’s time to achieve an objective that has strategic importance and impact,” as explained by a USAF official, according to Reuters
Ukrainian F-16s feature PIDS to release chaff and flares against missiles, and ECIPS with defenses like the AN/ALQ-162 jammer. The system connects to Denmark’s Terma management system, helping pilots track enemy radars during electronic reconnaissance missions.
“This is a new and critical capability for Ukraine. The Ukrainian air force’s older, ex-Soviet fighters—its Mikoyan MiG-29s and Sukhoi Su-27s—don’t even carry jammers, to say nothing of taking to the air with integrated self-defense systems that can double as reconnaissance systems,” Forbes wrote.
Related:
- Frontline report: Ukraine’s new F-16s are now ready to attack Russian jets — and win
- Chaotic drone arsenal gives Ukraine tactical surprise advantage
- Forbes: Ukrainian jammers confuse Russia’s glide bombs, ending “golden era” of precision strikes (video)
- Ukraine to receive Swedish ASC 890 radar aircraft after F-16 compatibility modifications
- Ukraine’s skies are empty except for F-16s—and the military doesn’t want civilians filming them
- More F-16 jets arrive in Ukraine, Zelenskyy confirms
- Bloomberg: Turkish troops may join a future Ukraine peacekeeping mission
- Ukraine’s air force uses Mirage fighters against Russian missiles for the first time
- Belgium delays F-16 deliveries—Ukraine must wait for at least another year
- Ukraine’s F-16s deploy US missiles adapted to defeat Russian air tactics, TWZ reports