Ukrainian pilots have begun flying F-16s for operations within the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Sunday. The long-awaited arrival of US-made fighter jets It has been over 29 months since the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian leader announced the use of the F-16s, which Kiev has long lobbied for, as he met military pilots at an airport where two jets were parked and two others were flying overhead.
“F-16s are in Ukraine. We did it. I am proud of our people who have mastered these planes and have started using them for their country,” Zelensky said at a location that officials asked Reuters not to be named about for security reasons.
The arrival of these fighter jets after months of waiting is a milestone for Ukraine, although it is still unclear how many planes are available and how effective they will be in enhancing air defence and on the battlefield.
Russia is targeting locations where these terrorists may be present, and has vowed to eliminate them so they have no impact on the war.
Made by Lockheed Martin LMT.N , the F-16 jets have long been on Ukraine’s wish list because of their destructive power and global availability. They are armed with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles.
Speaking to reporters on an airport runway, Zelensky said Ukraine still did not have enough pilots trained to fly F-16s, or a sufficient number of F-16 jets.
“The positive thing is that we are expecting additional F-16s… a number of people are training now,” he said.
He said it is important that Kiev’s allies find ways to expand training programs and opportunities for Ukrainian pilots and engineering teams.
The ‘new aviation standard’
Ukraine has previously relied on a fleet of vintage Soviet-era fighter jets, which are far more powerful than Russia’s more advanced and numerically superior fleet.
Russia has used this advantage to launch regular long-range missile strikes on targets in Ukraine, and hit Ukrainian front-line positions with thousands of guided bombs, helping its forces, which are slowly advancing in the east.
“This is a new stage in the development of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
“We have done a lot to convert Ukrainian forces to the new aviation standard, Western fighter aviation,” he said, citing hundreds of meetings and tireless diplomacy to obtain the F-16s.
“We have often heard the answer as ‘it is impossible’, but yet we made our ambition, our defensive necessity, possible,” he said.
It is still not clear which missiles are fitted on the jets. Military analysts say the long range of the missiles will enable them to have a greater impact on the battlefield.
Zelensky said he also hopes to help allied neighbouring countries stop Russian missiles being fired at Ukraine through dialogue at the Ukraine-NATO Council forum.
“This is another tool, and I would like to try it, so that NATO countries can talk to Ukraine about the possibility of a small coalition of neighboring countries shooting down enemy missiles,” he said.
“I think this decision is probably difficult for our partners, they are always afraid of excessive escalation but we are fighting it.”