Did Russia’s 40N6 400km Range Air Defence Missile Just Shoot Down Ukraine’s F-16 Fighter?
Eastern Europe and Central Asia , Missile and Space , Battlefield
Following the announcement by the Ukrainian Air Force on April 12 that it had lost an F-16 fourth generation fighter and its pilot during a combat mission, which had taken place under “extremely complicated conditions,” the Russian Defence Ministry reported that Russian air defences were responsible for destroying the aircraft. “Air defences shot down a Ukrainian F-16 aircraft, eight JDAM guided aerial bombs, seven U.S.-made HIMARS missiles and 207 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles,” the ministry reported. This was supported by a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who in vowing a “strong and precise” response, implied that Russian forces had caused the loss of the aircraft and death of its pilot. The loss of an F-16 to ground based air defences came as a surprise to analysts, as while the fighters are near unanimously considered either obsolete or near obsolescence, they have consistently been operated far behind the frontlines to avoid being targeted. Ukraine’s Soviet built MiG-29 and Su-27 fourth generation fighters have borne the brunt of frontline combat duties and suffered rapid attrition as a result.
With F-16s continuing to operate far behind the frontlines, the loss of a system to Russian ground based air defence systems has raised the possibility that a very long ranged surface-to-air missile was used to neutralise the target deep into Ukrainian controlled territory. The most widely used missile with such capabilities is the 40N6, which has no known equivalents outside Russia. Although fielded from the October 2018, and delivered to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army from 2019, the missile class was not known to have been combat tested before its use in Ukraine was reported in November 2023. Unconfirmed reports of its use had previously also emerged from mid-2022. The missile has proven capable of engaging targets 400 kilometres away. This is achieved by using targeting data either from forward deployed radar systems, or from large airborne radars carried by aircraft such as the A-50 AEW&C system or MiG-31 interceptor, and allows engagements to be made well beyond the reach of sensors of the firing air defence system. The 40N6 is deployed by both the S-400 and S-500 air defence systems, and allows for targeting at ranges at which fighters like the F-16 would usually be considered relatively safe. The high mobility of these ground based systems can further complicate efforts to remain outside their engagement ranges.
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