Twelve F-16 fighter jets have been sent to Ukraine by rail and road since early November, with the total number now reportedly increased to twenty-four aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are dismantled and dispersed in warehouses around air bases. The airfields of Starokonstantinov, Doljindzhevo and the bases of Kiev could not be used, as they were frequently attacked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is information that some of them have already been destroyed on Ukrainian soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NATO early warning and control aircraft flying in Romania, Poland and the northern Black Sea by design have been tasked with identifying targets and “caging” them by radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once that happens, the F-16s will attempt to engage the Russian fighters by firing AIM-120 air-to-air missiles and flying low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through the Link 16 data exchange system, the early warning and control aircraft will direct the missile to shoot down the Russian aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is envisaged that some of the aircraft will remain in Ukraine and at least 36 fighters will remain in NATO countries and be used for attack and rapid return to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Practically and essentially, NATO is taking military action against the Russian Federation, whatever that entails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first stage, attacks using Ukrainian soil will be tried, but if this does not work, the attack tactics will be processed through NATO bases in neighboring countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia has said that if that happens, it will hit the bases, risking triggering NATO’s Article 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The alliance wants to go ahead with the last but most dangerous tactic to undermine Russia’s air superiority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They will push Russia to the breaking point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Russia, the risk of conflict with NATO will increase enormously. The place where Ukraine will benefit most from NATO intelligence is the Black Sea coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ukrainian armed forces will be able to perform both ground and aerial “correction” on targeting Russian positions, via radars from the Danube Delta and northern Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attacks from northern Ukraine could be launched by aircraft into Poland. The Ukrainian Air Force could attempt a direct strike in eastern Ukraine and conduct a decisive dogfight with more F-16s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russians believe that NATO plans to use retired F-16 pilots gathered from around the world as Ukrainian pilots are considered insufficiently trained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It remains to be seen how the Russians will deal with the Western fighters, which will be “hiding” mainly in Western countries. They had time to implement a proper design as the delivery of the F-16s had been announced many months before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is noted that a new era in BVR air combat (Beyond the Visual Horizon) and air combat in general dawned a few days ago when for the first time in aviation history a fighter (a Ukrainian MiG-29) was shot down by a Russian fighter (MiG-31BM) in distance 180-210 km which is the furthest distance a fighter has managed to shoot down another fighter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Success was achieved with a Mach 6 Vympel R-37M air-to-air missile, which has a range of 400 km (!) and until today NATO believed it was developed to shoot down slow-moving aircraft airborne radar, early warning AWACS or enemy strategic bombers (e.g. B-1B), as they considered it impossible at such distances to shoot down an agile fighter by an air-to-air missile launched from hundreds of kilometers away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is certain that the missile will be used against the F-16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The F-16s are the last and most dangerous stage of NATO’s assistance to Ukraine, after that any further action could lead to a situation of no return\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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