(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . David French explains why Ukraine needs F-16s [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-05-21 David French at The NY Times makes the case for supplying Ukraine with F-16s. It’s a good list of the capabilities the F-16 would bring to the battlefield, as well as a discussion of what ‘generation’ means for aircraft. On a recent visit to Kyiv, French was impressed by the message coming from all of the Ukrainian officials he was meeting: they want and need advanced Western fighters, specifically the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Why? The jet fighter age is described in generations, which are categories of aircraft defined by their capabilities. There’s some disagreement as to how to classify different aircraft, but as a general matter, the first three generations, running from the debut of jet fighters to the middle of the Cold War, are completely obsolete and not part of the debate. Fourth-generation planes, like early models of the F-15 and F-16 and the Russian MIG-29 and Su-27, were the best planes of the Cold War and are still in service in most modern militaries, including Russia’s and Ukraine’s. The apex of current fighter technology is fifth-generation stealth fighters, which include the American F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II and Russia’s Su-57. Generation 4.5 is sandwiched between generations four and five: The fighters aren’t stealthy, but they have vastly upgraded avionics compared with fourth-generation fighters, and they can deploy more highly advanced armaments. Generation 4.5 fighters include upgraded models of the American F-15, F-16 and F-18, as well as* the Eurofighter Typhoon, Sweden’s Saab JAS-39 Gripen and France’s Dassault Rafale. Crucially, the list also includes the Russian Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35. Russia has hundreds of generation 4.5 fighters. Ukraine has none. Instead it has a few dozen Soviet-era fourth-generation fighters. And therein lies the problem. Don’t be deceived by 2022’s top-grossing movie, “Top Gun: Maverick,” in which (spoiler alert) Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, pilots a decades-old fourth-generation F-14 Tomcat to victory over a number of enemy fifth-generation fighters. In the real world, the generation gap would have been decisive. * inserted links to all of the aircraft listed above — xaxnar. I’ll differ a bit with French over Top Gun. In the movie Maverick made excellent use of surprise and terrain to overcome the F-14’s weaknesses against the 5th gen adversaries, as well as exploiting the full capabilities of the Tomcat. It was a different matter out over the water of course — where the last fighter attacking him got shot down because he forgot to watch his six. Situational awareness can be a big deal. There have been reports that Russian pilots aren’t trained to the same level of combat proficiency as American military aviators. Why F-16s and not some of the comparable European aircraft? The simple reason is because there are so many more of them available. French also gets into how the F-16 would be an advance over Ukraine’s current air power. Essentially they can ‘see’ farther, and support a wider variety of weapons systems with greater reach than Ukraine’s older jets can handle. While Air Defense systems have proven critical, the problem there is that they can only protect a limited area, while F-16’s would be able to patrol widely over Ukraine. As far as concerns over escalation go, while F-16s would change the defensive situation for Ukraine, they are not a deep penetration threat to Russia. (Of course, given Russian paranoia, that more a palliative for Western people concerned about the issue.) It’s not going to be a quick matter; it’s not just training the pilots to fly the planes. It’s also about getting the supply chain in place, the training of support people, and the learning curve for everyone, including the people on the ground trying to manage it along with all the other weapons systems coming into the country. For all that, Ukraine does have one big advantage. They don’t have a lot of different scenarios to train for — just defend their own territory and push Russia out of it. French concludes with this: Perhaps the best short argument in support of the Biden administration’s decision was summed up by the former Ukrainian defense minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk. He told me to “ask a NATO general how to win this war without aviation.” Providing Ukraine with advanced fighters not only makes its task easier; it’s a sign the Biden administration is ready to turn the page from simply helping Ukraine avoid defeat. Now we are starting to help Ukraine achieve victory — and maintain the peace we pray is soon to come. While it will take time for the F-16 to arrive in any meaningful way, the fact that it is coming is already a factor, and sends a message. John Richard Boyd’s baby is still making a difference. 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