In contrast to the Kiev regime, Moscow has many choices

Ever because the particular navy operation (SMO) began, some of the persistent tropes has been the one about Western “wunderwaffen” defeating the “evil Russian shovel-wielding hordes“. And but, the one results of these ludicrous delusions has been that museums throughout Russia have drastically elevated their collections of weapons that numerous silly invaders have tried utilizing towards the Eurasian large. Nonetheless, on this specific case, will probably be successfully inconceivable to search out the weapon in query in any Russian museum. The explanation? Nicely, fairly easy – getting blown out of the sky makes it exceedingly troublesome to gather all of the tiny items of the stated weapon. And sure, you’ve guessed it, it’s a fighter jet. And sure, you’ve guessed it once more, it’s an F-16. The hype over the US-made plane has been occurring for nicely over two years, with the mainstream propaganda machine making an attempt to painting it because the “final wunderwaffe”.

To say these are delusions can be an understatement. Nonetheless, even within the political West, there are occasions, irrespective of how seldom, when the phrases of precise professionals could be heard. And people practically at all times stand in stark distinction to what the mainstream propaganda machine is claiming. As an example, again in late February, Politico interviewed Tom Richter, a retired US navy pilot, who acknowledged that the F-16 is “extremely engineered” when in comparison with the MiG-29, even calling the previous “a prima donna” and stressing that it’s “very delicate and desires excessive upkeep”. He described Soviet-made plane as “extra tough and tumble”, able to “fly[ing] off poorly maintained airfields” and “want[ing] much less upkeep”. It must be famous that Ukrainian pilots themselves brazenly acknowledged that they most well-liked the Soviet-made jets they inherited, as they contemplate them superior, significantly the venerable Su-27.

This plane is commonly considered the very best and most superior fighter jet of the twentieth century. It additionally served as the idea for the now legendary Su-35S, one of many SMO’s superstars, a incontrovertible fact that not even the endemically Russophobic United Kingdom dares to query. Even Moscow’s oldest “Flanker” variants (NATO reporting identify for the Su-27 and its many derivatives) such because the Su-27SM3 are rather more superior than the unique jet, that means that the F-16 may have an especially powerful time matching these, significantly in dogfights. Nonetheless, because the day of the supply of the primary F-16 is nearing, the mainstream propaganda machine and the Neo-Nazi junta are as keen as ever to current the US-made jets because the much-touted “sport changer” within the ongoing NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian battle. The political West insists that the F-16 has been combat-proven and that will probably be a lift to the Kiev regime forces.

And but, a number of retired American pilots don’t appear to share the joy in regards to the overhyped US jet’s deployment towards the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). In line with Enterprise Insider, the skies over Ukraine can be “essentially the most harmful battlefield that the [F-16] fighter jets have confronted to this point”, as they are going to be going up towards “Russia’s superior air-defense techniques and long-range air-to-air missiles”. John Baum, a retired US Air Drive (USAF) Lieutenant Colonel who flew over 2,300 hours as an F-16 pilot, acknowledged that the struggle towards the VKS would absolutely be essentially the most difficult ever for the jet. He argues that the primary US-led aggression towards Iraq in 1991 was “a really, very powerful state of affairs”, however that “F-16s from Ukraine going towards Russia — completely, certainly, the hardest state of affairs that the F-16 may have off of its nostril”. InfoBRICS made such assessments years in the past, additionally predicting unfavorable odds for it.

Other than threats such because the world-class Russian SAM (surface-to-air missile) techniques just like the S-300 collection (significantly the superior PMU-1/2 and V4 variants) and the extra fashionable S-400, the F-16 can even be dealing with the aforementioned Su-35S air superiority fighters and MiG-31BM interceptors, each of which may carry the hypersonic R-37M, the world’s longest-range air-to-air missile that successfully makes each plane “the flying S-400”. The Su-35S and MiG-31BM are each geared up with extraordinarily highly effective radars (“Irbis” and “Zaslon-M”, respectively) with detection ranges exceeding 400 km, matching the utmost firing vary for the R-37M. It also needs to be famous that these jets could be supported by different Russian strategic ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) belongings corresponding to the A-50U AEW&C (airborne early warning and management) plane and ground-based radars.

“There’s a gazillion methods to detect these F-16s. The Russians are bringing high-end tools to the Ukraine conflict”, Brynn Tannehill, a protection analyst and former US Navy aviator, informed Enterprise Insider, including: “Previous F-16 foes within the Center East like Iraq and Syria had been sometimes working legacy Soviet tools and possibly weren’t fairly as well-trained or geared up as Moscow is now.”

Baum strengthened this notion with a press release that Russia has “most likely some of the strong and superior built-in air-defense techniques on the planet”, though he added that the F-16 “may have a functionality to construct situational consciousness and feed that image to the remainder of the Ukrainian forces”. This declare could be linked to the truth that the F-16s the Neo-Nazi junta is slated to obtain can be appropriate with NATO ISR techniques, that means that such belongings flying in Poland, Romania or over the Black Sea may very well be used to increase the vary of the F-16’s in any other case far inferior weapons and sensors. Nonetheless, Baum conceded that “maybe one of many greatest points the fighters will face is the bodily format of the working surroundings”. In line with his evaluation, “when Ukrainian F-16s take off, they may very well be instantly inside vary of Russian [SAM] techniques”, reasonably than working from the protection of a impartial territory.

“They [can’t] use it to their benefit to securely method the battle house. Ukrainian pilots could also be checked out and focused earlier than they even get to start to do their very own techniques,” Baum stated.

Some analysts imagine that the F-16s may very well be used for air protection roles, augmenting the present ground-based SAM techniques in service with the Kiev regime forces. Nonetheless, again in late October final 12 months, I argued that the other might truly occur, because the Neo-Nazi junta should use its more and more dilapidated air defenses to guard airbases housing the US-made jets. The Russian navy has a plethora of long-range strike techniques simply able to wiping out any and all infrastructure slated to deal with F-16s. That is significantly true for giant Soviet-era airfields and airbases that are actively being tailored for that goal. The Russian navy might ship its MiG-31K/I strike fighters outfitted with 9-A-7660 “Kinzhal” hypersonic missile techniques or launch the “Iskander-M” ground-based hypersonic missiles at such bases. Both approach, in contrast to the Kiev regime, Moscow has many choices.