Ukraine Needs F-16s To Stop Russian Glide Bombs: Air Force

Ukrainian defenders are unable to counter long-range Russian glide bombs in front line regions and need American-made fighter jets to dissuade continued strikes by Russian aircraft, according to an air force spokesperson.

Yuriy Ignat, a spokesperson for Ukraine's air force, told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday that Russian planes are dropping hundreds of "guided aviation bombs"—standard air-dropped munitions fitted with wings and navigation systems to provide longer range and greater accuracy—on Ukrainian positions and residential areas close to the front as Kyiv prepares for its long-awaited spring counteroffensive.

"On a daily basis, 20 to 200 guided aviation bombs are used on the forward edge of the battle area," Ignat said. "Those bombs can fly about 70 kilometers, and they may target the facilities of critical infrastructure, kindergartens, residential areas and educational and medical institutions."

"We cannot counter this kind of ammunition," he added. "We should rather try to down the Su-34s, the carriers of those aviation bombs, the tactical aviation fixed wing aircraft."

Kyiv has long been calling on its NATO backers to provide Western-made aircraft, in particular American-made F-16s. Poland and Slovakia have both sent Soviet-made fighter jets to Ukraine but building consensus for F-16 provision has proved more difficult.

Ignat said F-16s are the only solution to Ukraine's growing glide bomb problem. "Everybody knows the answer; we need a long hand to reach the enemy at a distance further than we can do it now," he said, adding: "We're waiting for the decision about the fixed wing aircraft."

"F-16s can efficiently counter Russian aviation all along the forward edge of the battle area," Ignat said. "Should we have F-16s on duty in the north of the airspace of our country, that would reduce the desire of the enemy of aviation to approach our borders and to use those guided bombs."

"It's not necessary to down the enemy aircraft, but we just have to have a strong counter argument—like the F-16—which would reduce the enemy's desire to enter our territory."

Among Western arguments against providing F-16s or other aircraft is that it would take too long to train Ukrainian pilots to operate the new systems, plus that significant infrastructure would need to be built to accommodate NATO-made aircraft.

Ignat told reporters that the Ukrainian air force is preparing for such challenges.

"Our pilots are ready to set off for training on the new type of aircraft," he said. "We understand that it will probably be F-16s, but if—or when—the decision is taken, our pilots will immediately set off for that country to train on the new aircraft.

"What's going on for the time being is training in foreign language and improvement of different skills. It's not only about the pilots, but also the command officers and maintenance teams.

"We have homework to be done. I'm talking about the preparation of infrastructure which will be a better fit for accepting the Western types of aircraft, the shelters for the material, the new communication systems and so on."

There has been an uptick in Russian airstrikes as Kyiv prepares for its counteroffensive. This week, two salvos of Russian missiles were fired at Ukrainian cities, killing two people and wounding 40. Kyiv said 15 of 18 missiles launched were shot down. One strike on the city of Pavlograd in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is believed to have ignited a rocket fuel storage site.

Ignat said the strikes were intended to undermine Ukraine's looming counteroffensive operation.

"They try to destroy what they need to destroy the most: Western material," he said. "They want to damage the equipment and weapons which are being provided by our partners for our offensive, and obviously their priority will always be the facilities of critical infrastructure, the fuel bases, because the life of all the country and the troops depend on it."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.