Washington intensifies support in Ukraine: F-16s will be given powerful weapons

There have been long-standing questions about how the dozens of F-16 jets being sent to Ukraine from its allies and partners would be supplied, but that problem has been answered. 

According to an unnamed U.S. official who spoke with the Wall Street Journal, America will arm Ukrainian F-16s with many of the weapons that they will need to be successful against Russia. 

Despite the Pentagon’s limited inventory and production capabilities, The Washington Post noted the United States plans to supply Ukraine with several different types of advanced munitions for their F-16 fighter jets. 

Ukraine will be provided with air-to-ground weapons and precision-guided bomb kits, as well as advanced air-to-air missiles in large enough quantities to meet its current needs.

“We are confident that we will be able to supply all of those [weapons], at least the critical volumes that they need,” the U.S. official said according to the Wall Street Journal.

Among the specific weapons being sent to Ukraine is the AGM-88 HARM air-to-ground missile. This is a powerful missile used to engage ground targets but also serves a larger purpose on the battlefield.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By TSGT Kevin J. Gruenwald, USAF, Defense Visual Information Center, Public Domain

According to the U.S. Air Force, the AGM-88 HARM was “designed to seek and destroy enemy radar-equipped air defense systems” and can do so with minimal aircrew input. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By SSGT. Scott Stewart, Defense Visual Information Center, Public Domain

Ukraine will also be receiving the extended version of the American Joint Direct Attack Munition kit, which can convert unguided bombs into precision-guided smart weapons, as well as small-diameter bombs. 

In terms of arming Ukrainian F-16s with defensive capabilities, the United States plans to send Kyiv the short-range AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile and the medium-range AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By David Monniauxmodified, Fox 52, CC BY-SA 4.0

The AIM-9X Sidewinder is a supersonic, heat-seeking interceptor missile according to the U.S. Air Force, and was designed for use against other aircraft. It is the latest variant of a missile type that was first developed in the 1950s. 

The AIM-120 AMRAAM is a new generation of advanced air-to-air missile designed to be “faster, smaller, and lighter” than its previous version, the AIM-7 Sparrow according to the U.S. Air Force. It is very effective against low-altitude targets. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine’s European partners were reluctant to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needed to arm its F-16s because of their limited inventories of the munitions, so the solution to the problem was help from the U.S.

In a program that’s been dubbed ‘Jumpstart’, Ukraine’s European allies can pool their money to purchase air-launched weapons for Kyiv according to the unnamed source that spoke with the Wall Street Journal. 

“The aircraft itself is worthless without the weapons,” said Maj. Gen. Rolf Folland, Chief of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. However, there are still many challenges facing Kyiv when it comes to operating the F-16 in its airspace. 

Maintenance, training, and figuring out the best way to use the fourth-generation fighter against Russia are all issues that Ukraine will need to overcome as it begins using the F-16 in combat operations. 

On July 31st, Bloomberg News reported the first F-16s had arrived in Ukraine and were being used. The Telegraph later reported one Ukrainian Air Force official did not deny some F-16 fighters had arrived in Ukraine

The official noted the F-16s in Ukraine were only used for air defense purposes. Kyiv is set to receive 79 F-16s from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway before the end of the summer. 

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