Ukraine is eagerly waiting for the F-16 fighter jets to come to its aid. But why not go one step further and send Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II to Ukraine instead? The F-35 is a stealth jet fighter – it is hard to detect by radars and would be difficult to shoot down.
F-35 is a fifth-generation fighter jet with a stealth design hiding it from radars. Image credit: Joint Base San Antonio via Wikimedia
Singapore’s Defense Minister randomly mentioned that American F-35s are actively participating in missions over Ukraine. The United States denied this information, the Ukrainians did not boast about it, and the Russians did not accuse the United States of using the F-35 in a war zone either. On the other hand, if the F-35s are hard to spot using radar, maybe these jet fighters are operating in Ukraine and the Russians simply don’t know about it yet?
Ukrainian aviation expert Valery Romanenko explained: “It is impossible to use them without anyone noticing. Russians have quite a lot of various intelligence equipment, including radar stations, radio technical intelligence tools, and satellites. In general, it is not invisible. It’s just harder to spot.” He claims that the Russians would have certainly already detected the F-35 fighter jets over Ukraine.
Not even diving into all the stealth technology wizardry, one has to remember that the F-35 has a very recognizable shape. Russian soldiers would recognize an F-35 if it flew above them. Even if they didn’t realize they saw an F-35, they would certainly know that some previously unseen jet fighter is operating in the area and would start asking questions. All of this simply means that the F-35 does not conduct missions in Ukraine, and if it did, we would already know about it.
Why aren’t NATO countries sending F-35s to Ukraine? If Ukraine continues to build its capabilities, adopt NATO standards and improve its armed forces, the F-35 will definitely be in its future. But now the F-16 is a more reasonable choice.
F-16 is a fourth-generation fighter jet, while the F-35 is fifth generation, but it is still a huge upgrade for Ukraine. Image credit: Wikimedia
There are many more F-16 jets and there are surplus ones that some countries are replacing with the F-35. Thus, the West can provide Ukraine with a number of F-16 fighters without putting a dent in its own security. There are no spare F-35s anywhere. Also, the F-35 is a much more complex weapon and would require much more time and effort to master. Both pilots and technical personnel would train for much longer – it is possible that they wouldn’t even graduate in time to participate in this war.
On top of that, the F-16 is much cheaper than the F-35, in terms of acquisition cost, maintenance cost and operating costs. Finally, there are many more different weapon systems available for the F-16, because this jet fighter is simply serving for a longer time and does not hide its weapons in the fuselage for the sake of stealth.
And while Ukraine will receive used F-16s, there is no need to assume that the type itself is outdated. The F-16 is still in production and is superior in many categories to the Russian aircraft used in the war in Ukraine.
Written by Povilas M.
Source: NV.ua