Missile Strike on Ukrainian Airbase Takes Out F-16s on the Ground - Reports
Eastern Europe and Central Asia , Aircraft and Anti-Aircraft
Unconfirmed reports from a number of European sources have indicated that an attack on an airbase in Ukraine destroyed four newly supplied F-16 fighter aircraft on the ground.
The report was followed by reports from Russian sources that Kinzhal ballistic missiles were launched at an airfield in Strakonstantinov in Western Ukraine. The Kinzhal is a relatively rare and high end air launched missile class that has consistently been reserved for use against high value targets, very often including newly delivered NATO military equipment.
Unlike Ukraine’s Soviet origin fighters the F-16 cannot deploy from airfields that are makeshift or otherwise less than perfect, which has placed greater limitations on the number of facilities which they can deploy from. This was long expected to make the aircraft easier to target, particularly compared to MiG-29s which previously formed the backbone of the Ukrainian fleet and have some of the world’s foremost off-runway performances.
The first F-16s were delivered to Ukraine on August 1, while the first was lost on August 26 - with this confirmed three days later. Reports have widely conflicted on the cause of this loss.
Although the modern F-16 Block 70/72 is in production today with formidable capabilities, F-16s pledged to Ukraine, including the already delivered ex-Danish Air Force F-16AM/BMs, are notably obsolete Cold War era variants. These are not considered to have any remotely viable chance in air to air combat against 21st century Russian fighters with phased array radars and modern jamming systems, but are expected to be useful as delivery platforms for long range missile strikes into Russian territory - which can be launched from far behind Ukrainian lines.
Denmark and the Netherlands have specifically given Ukraine permission to use its F-16s for such deep strikes, while the United States is considering providing AGM-158 JASSM air launched cruise missiles with long 400 kilometre ranges to Ukraine to facilitate such targeting.
With NATO members having exhausted stockpiles of MiG-29s acquired from the Soviet Union, ageing F-16 variants are the only readily available fighters which can be used to escalate missile attacks on Russia.
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