I said it will boost Ukrainian morale, not much more. I have no idea what the Russian MOD thinks, but they have been noisily complaining about the F--16s, so I don't quite get the notion they welcome fighting against them.
it remains to be seen if the Dutch or others want to send their pilots to Ukraine where the Russians will declare them mercenaries or worse. As for maintenance, significant maintenance will need to be done outside of Ukraine. You would need all the test equipment and more , so it is unlikely that much more than in the field replacements will be possible. I think Ukraine has good pilots; but support of western hardware is not their forte.
Excellent article. I believe the F16s will only serve to further drag NATO and the US into this conflict. Their complex operation will eventually require the donor states to commit military personnel for training and servicing. Then, when the first silver coffins start arriving back in these same countries, we'll see an escalation that might be the start of the first nuclear exchange of the twenty-first century.
As Simplicius The Thinker rightly wrote in his last Weekly Mailbag Answers in response to questions 22 and 23, the F-16 thingy is mostly a psy. op. designed to boost morale of both Ukrainians and their partners. Russian MOD may even welcome the supply of F-16s to Ukraine, as it provides excellent training conditions for Russian pilots to finally go up against their long time adversaries in a relatively low-risk environment.
Maintenance personnel should not be a problem: NATO personnel will just need to change uniforms. Pilots too? Old Falcons will do more for PR and upgrading the donor's inventory (not to mention General Dynamics' shareholder value), but not much in the air above 404.
I agree with you there are many risks in fueling the Ukraine war.
I said it will boost Ukrainian morale, not much more. I have no idea what the Russian MOD thinks, but they have been noisily complaining about the F--16s, so I don't quite get the notion they welcome fighting against them.
it remains to be seen if the Dutch or others want to send their pilots to Ukraine where the Russians will declare them mercenaries or worse. As for maintenance, significant maintenance will need to be done outside of Ukraine. You would need all the test equipment and more , so it is unlikely that much more than in the field replacements will be possible. I think Ukraine has good pilots; but support of western hardware is not their forte.
Excellent article. I believe the F16s will only serve to further drag NATO and the US into this conflict. Their complex operation will eventually require the donor states to commit military personnel for training and servicing. Then, when the first silver coffins start arriving back in these same countries, we'll see an escalation that might be the start of the first nuclear exchange of the twenty-first century.
As Simplicius The Thinker rightly wrote in his last Weekly Mailbag Answers in response to questions 22 and 23, the F-16 thingy is mostly a psy. op. designed to boost morale of both Ukrainians and their partners. Russian MOD may even welcome the supply of F-16s to Ukraine, as it provides excellent training conditions for Russian pilots to finally go up against their long time adversaries in a relatively low-risk environment.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/paid-subscriber-weekly-mailbag-answers-737
Maintenance personnel should not be a problem: NATO personnel will just need to change uniforms. Pilots too? Old Falcons will do more for PR and upgrading the donor's inventory (not to mention General Dynamics' shareholder value), but not much in the air above 404.