Quote (ofthevoid @ 21 Aug 2023 20:16)
F-16s are 40 year old planes and the S-300 which came out around the same time was specifically designed to take these type of planes down. Since then Russians developed and deployed even more advanced AA systems S-400,500s, so like Hamsterbaby, most experts agree that those planes will be extremely vulnerable at the front. They are an escalation and may have some impact but ultimately very limited. Nor would they really be able to engage Russian aircraft because Russia isn't really using front line Aircraft all that much (because Ukrainians also have S-300s), what they do is launch Kinzhal's and Kalibr's and other type of long range cruise missiles from Caspian Sea or Black Sea which then travel hundreds of miles to their targets.
I don't know how many they get but in the short term (lets say by year end) it's a relatively small amount <10 and even that is fairly optimistic to expect because pilot training takes awhile. In the next two years it could be a lot more but that hinges on continual western support for years to come, which IMO is not a given.
They should have sent them for training 2 months into the war last year. I mean why now ? You are not going to train F -16 pilots in 6 months. Minimal is 8 to 9 months.
Our boys in Singapore who does F - 16 Training takes about 12 months and you have to go on sorties, mock battles etc etc . Now is August, by next June, July the pilots are supposedly " trained " . Delivery ?
Air fields ? You mean Ukraine are going to fly their F - 16S from Romania and Poland ? US Elections ?
So many things is going to happen.
If your F - 16S is not going to perform fairly well, it is going to affect sales. I mean if you are going to send the upgraded F-16 Block 70s, obviously it is going to be totally different.
But those that are sent over is not.
Pragmatic A-10s will be so much more effective. Send more drones for hit and run , rinse and repeat. Use minimal amount of $$$$ for the most effective weapons, drag it out till they are tired.
Do what the Rice Farmers did in Vietnam.
This post was edited by Hamsterbaby on Aug 21 2023 06:33am