F-16 Fighting Falcon News

August 27, 2024 (by Lieven Dewitte) - Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said Today that his military deployed F-16 fighter jets to to repel a massive Russian attack on Monday.
The strike, which reportedly included over 127 cruise and ballistic missiles and a 109 one-way attack drones, was one of the biggest of the war so far. It was aimed at a variety of critical infrastructure targets across the country, particularly its energy grid. Ukraine managed to shoot down 102 missiles and 99 drones. Seven people were killed and 47 injured. Energy facilities were damaged in several regions.

Zelenskyy announced earlier this month that Ukraine had received the first batch of the fighter jets promised by Western countries. Images of the jets showed them armed only with air-to-air missiles, indicating an initial air-defense role, which is exactly how they were used in the latest attack.

“As part of this huge missile attack, we have already shot down some missiles with the help of F-16s, and we thank our partners for providing us with these F-16s,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Kyiv today without elaborating. He said at the press conference that Ukraine still needed more of the jets and more trained pilots.

On the same day of the attack, the U.S. Air Force disclosed its involvement in the upgrade of the electronic warfare (EW) suites of the F-16s delivered to Ukraine. The 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron recently collaborated with their Danish and Norwegian counterparts in support of the delivery of F-16s from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine, said the service in a press release.

“The 68th EWS is an Air Force center of Electronic Warfare excellence, focused on increasing the lethality and survivability of the U.S. and its strategic partners by developing, testing and delivering full-spectrum Electromagnetic Warfare support,” says the Air Force. The unit is based at Eglin Air Force Base and part of the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing.

Ukraine is now being onboarded as an official foreign military sales case for the 68th EWS. This way the unit will provide reprogramming capabilities based on feedback from the Ukrainians, which will provide combat-tested data to improve capabilities to the benefit of both parties.