Summary:
- Ukraine's President Zelensky's visit to Denmark marks the acquisition of F-16 fighter jets, a significant development in the ongoing conflict.
- Denmark plans to provide 19 F-16s to Ukraine, with training of Ukrainian pilots already underway.
- The American-made F-16s are expected to enhance Ukraine's defense capabilities against Russian aggression.
- Ukraine's request for F-16s was initially held off by Western allies due to concerns of escalating the conflict.
- Ukrainian pilots will require months of training before the F-16s can be effectively deployed.
Visiting Denmark Monday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky climbed into the cockpit of an F-16. After months of trying, Kiev has secured the delivery of the Western jets. After addressing the Danish parliament, Zelensky spoke to the thousands of people who had gathered outside to show their support.
Denmark plans to provide 19 F-16s with the training of Ukrainian pilots already underway. It's hoped the first jets will arrive by the end of the year. The Netherlands, where Zelensky visited Sunday, said it had 42 F-16s available. Both allies are upgrading their own fleets to more modern, fifth-generation fighter jets. The invading Russian forces currently enjoy vast air superiority, although Ukraine's air defenses, bolstered by modern Western systems, have proved effective. Ukraine's existing fleet is made up of aging Soviet-era aircraft. The American-made F-16s will offer far greater firepower, helping to defend against Russian jets, missiles and drones, and would also offer Ukraine the ability to safely strike targets hundreds of kilometers away, deep in Russian-controlled territory. Defense analyst Patrick Berry.
To get any momentum on the ground, really, in the old sort of blitzkrieg sense, you need to have that ground attack capability from the air, you know, so air to surface attack capability. And the F-16 can do that as well. And finally, and a really important role in this as well, is the F-16 is pretty good at doing suppression or destruction of enemy air defenses. Ukraine has been asking for F-16s since Russia's February 2022 invasion, but Western allies held off, fearing escalation of the war. It will take months for Ukrainian pilots to be trained. The delay could prove costly, says Berry. I still think it's coming too late, to be honest with you.
Politics is moving. We'll see what happens. But, you know, whether Ukraine can come round to it and have these F-16s ready, enough of them trained up and ready to go to basically go for version two of a summer offensive next summer, if the political appetite and the fiscal appetite is there for that, we'll see. For now, Ukraine's summer ground offensive grinds on slowly, with minimal air support. Analysts say the West's decision to supply F-16s aims to bolster Ukraine's longer term capabilities to fend off Russian aggression.
Henry Ritchwell for VUA News, London.