Doesn't say what type of F-16, unfortunately.
this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2023
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NonCredibleDefense
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Those 24 F16's are the ones still in active service. The Netherlands has a total of 42 planes in inventory. The other 18 could be available quickly, although it's possible not all of them are flight worthy. They could still be useful for spare parts.
I wonder how many could be sent. I don’t imagine they can all be sent even though the article mentioned that some were to be retired. I hope for a world where Ukraine would get 54 aircraft at once but I think more countries are going to have to sign on to get f-16s in numbers to Ukraine.
The 24 planes from above source are only the ones in active service. The Netherlands has a total of 42 planes in inventory. Of course the 18 standing in hangars are not necessarily all flight worthy, and some are probably only usable for spare parts.
How many planes the Netherlands could send depends on part on the US. All of their F16s are scheduled to be replaced by F35s, so the faster those could be delivered the more willing The Netherlands could be to donate their old planes.
I know the A-10 is obsolete but why not let the brrrrrrrrrrrrrrt Horn of Warthog sound one last time. Let it do what it was bred to do at least once.
A-10s were...bred? 😳🥵
Giggity.
It wouldn’t survive long enough, unfortunately. Look at all the coverage of manpads and drones, so many anti-aircraft and anti-misfile systems. It really drives home the point that close in air support with a manned aircraft has become suicidal, even in an A-10.
I always wondered how an F-35 could replace the A-10 for ground support. Clearly it can’t but I believe the goal is precision attacks while staying at a safer distance.
Look at how Russia is using their Air Force. In general, staying out of range while shooting “precision” weapons.
F-16 has some really amazing capabilities but I hope they don’t try to use them for close support. Ukraine needs F-16s to bring the fight to the Russian Air Force. It’s no longer ok for them to fly 50 miles offshore to shoot missiles from any direction
I assume the hesitation was because Ukraine is obviously also interested in stopping Russian Air Force from shooting missiles 100 miles behind the lines … over or near Russian territory
As much as I love the Warthog, it's very slow & would be a sitting duck for MANPADs, s-300s & s-400s.
On the other hand, the F-16 was designed for SEAD.
Me watching 50 year old American planes BTFO "Modern" Russian flying equipment:
XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD
"Modern" Ruzzian Air Defense systems are what the F-16 are going to reduce to their constituent particles first.
Nothing beats them for SEAD.
