Can F-16s Help Ukraine Beat Russia?

Jakub Ferencik
6 min readAug 20, 2024

Originally, F-16s were provided to Ukraine in May 2023, after which pilots were being trained to operate them.

The goal was to modernize Ukraine’s Soviet-style air force and help Ukraine gain some control back over its skies.

The Ukrainian Spokesman for the Ukraine Air Force Command, Yurii Ihnat, claimed that these F-16s would grant Ukraine air superiority over “the occupied territories and reverse the course of this war.”

As of last week, F-16s have finally become operational in Ukraine. They didn’t do so earlier because of a cataclysmic misjudgment of Putin and slow US foreign policy. That is all now in the past.

So, how could F-16s help Ukraine repel the Russians?

Let me explain.

Photo by UX Gun on Unsplash

In 2023, when discussing the provision of F-16s, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said:

“As the training unfolds in the coming months, we will work with our allies to determine when planes will be delivered, who will be delivering them, and how many.”

Sullivan argued that we are entering a new phase of the war. And that this provision is entirely necessary to boost Ukrainian chances of retaking lost territory.

He continued,

“Now we have delivered everything we said we…

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Jakub Ferencik

Journalist in Prague | Author of “Up in the Air,” “Beyond Reason,” & "Surprised by Uncertainty" on AMAZON | MA McGill Uni | 750+ articles with 1+ mil. views