Russia shoots down F-16: Five things to know about the staple in NATO's arsenal
A Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet supplied by the West was shot down in what marked Russia's largest aerial assault since the three-year-long war began. NATO reportedly scrambled its own warplanes owing to the intensity of the strikes.
On Sunday, Russia launched a total of 537 aerial munitions, including 477 drones and decoys, and 60 missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. The F-16 pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustymenko, born in 1993, shot down seven air targets before he was killed in action.
A bulwark of the US Air Force during the Cold War, the fourth-generation multirole fighter was introduced in 1978 and inducted into service in 1979 with the delivery of the F-16A, its single-seater variant. Designed by General Dynamics, the ideation for the aircraft began with an order placed in 1972 for a lightweight, cost-effective air-to-air fighter. Its two-seat model, the F-16B, has tandem cockpits and is used for training.
The F-16C, another single-seat variant with improved avionics and weapons capabilities, entered service in September 1984; and its two-seater counterpart joined in 1978. Lockheed Martin formally became involved with the F‑16 program in 1993 with the acquisition of General Dynamics' Fort Worth aircraft production division.
The single-jet aircraft can fly at Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound). And due to its high G-force maneuvering capabilities, wide combat radius, and its ability to detect and engage enemy aircraft in all weather conditions, it remains a formidable force in air combat.
The jet has also been used extensively for air-to-surface roles throughout its career, with the most recent being Operation Rising Lion, when Israel conducted air strikes to cripple Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure and chain of command. It was also used during Operation Desert Storm, notably for the bombing of Iraqi military bunkers, which led the US to a decisive victory.
According to an official US government website, more than 4,600 F-16s have been built so far. Almost four decades since its introduction, the aircraft is far from being shelved, with approximately 2,600 still in service today between the US and at least 24 of its foreign military partners.
The other countries include Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Israel, Oman, Turkey, the UAE, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Chile.
The Pakistani Air Force reportedly operates 75 F-16s, and in 2022, the Biden administration provided Islamabad with a $450 million package 'for sustainment and related equipment' of the fleet.
The F-16 has been extensively used during major conflicts, including the Cold War and the War Against Terror. NATO forces conducted airstrikes over Serbia during the Kosovo conflict in 1999.
F-16s were heavily deployed in the coalition's campaign in Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom following the 9/11 attacks. It was also used in Operation Inherent Resolve in 2014 against ISIS.
Although fifth generation fighters F-22 and F-35s have become the flagbearers of American air superiority, the F-16 remains a mainstay in NATO's arsenal, bolstered by upgraded variants. The latest model, the F-16 V (Viper), which was introduced at the 2012 Singapore Airshow, includes advanced AESA radars, new cockpit displays and enhanced avionics, according to Lockheed Martin. In 2019, Taiwan ordered 66 F-16Vs in the backdrop of China's growing naval influence. With the procurement in progress, the island nation will have more than 200 of these fighters, making it the largest Viper fleet of the F-16 in Asia.
The previous report of F-16 to be shot down in the Russo-Ukrainian War was on April 12. Ukraine received its first batch of F-16 fighter jets during the conflict in August 2024, after NATO pledged to deliver 65 units in 2023, according to the BBC.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
China's Envoy Urges Australia to Resist US Pressure on Military Spending
China's envoy to Canberra urged Australia not to be 'incited' by NATO's support for US demands to sharply raise defense spending and instead cooperate with Beijing to resolve regional disputes. Ambassador Xiao Qian, in an opinion article published in The Australian newspaper Monday, wrote that both Australia and China rely on the same trade routes and have a major stake in safeguarding maritime security. He emphasized their roles as key trade partners with 'highly complementary' economies. 'Dramatically increasing military spending places a heavy fiscal burden on the countries involved, undermining their efforts to boost economies and improve livelihoods, and further straining a global economy already struggling with weak recovery,' Xiao said. He added some countries at events such as the Group of Seven summit and the recent North Atlantic Treaty Organization meeting have 'hyped up the so-called China threat narrative,' to increase defense spending 'and even incited Australia to follow suit.' Australia spends a little over 2% of its gross domestic product on defense and is under pressure from the US to raise that to 3.5%. The center-left government has pushed back, pointing out it has already increased outlays. At a higher level, Canberra is trying to balance the increasingly confrontational relationship between the US and China, which are respectively Australia's historic security ally and its biggest trading partner. Australia likely wants to avoid raising defense spending excessively and antagonizing Beijing. 'As I often hear from Australian friends, 'we have hundreds of reasons to be friends, and none to be enemies',' Xiao said. NATO leaders last week agreed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP and renewed their 'ironclad commitment' to mutual security as they aim to push back against an increasingly belligerent Russia. The US wants allies to take up more of the fiscal burden for their own defense so it can focus more heavily on China. Australia's Labor government has managed to rebuild ties with Beijing after they plunged into a deep freeze, which included punitive trade actions against some Australian goods in 2020. The fallout was triggered by the then center-right government calling for a probe into the origins of Covid-19. 'China and Australia are friends, not foes. This should never have been in question,' Xiao said. 'China has been always developing bilateral friendship and co-operation with the utmost sincerity and patience, and we hope Australia will work with us in the same direction.' This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Ukrainian F-16 jet, pilot shot down as Russia launches massive aerial attack
A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot has died after his jet crashed while trying to stop a major Russian air attack involving hundreds of drones and missiles. The attack caused damage across the country as Russia continues intense night-time strikes. read more The photograph shows an F-16 fighter plane from Poland during an air policing mission along with a Nato allied aircraft on March 24, 2022. (Representative Image, Credit: Reuters) A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot was killed after his plane crashed while trying to stop a large Russian air attack, officials said on Sunday. The attack involved hundreds of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, as Russia continues heavy night-time strikes in the fourth year of the war. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honoured the pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, by posthumously awarding him the title of Hero of Ukraine, the country's highest honour. Zelenskyy also urged the United States and other Western allies to provide more help to strengthen Ukraine's air defences. The latest attack damaged homes and infrastructure across the country and injured at least 12 people, according to local officials. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Cities under fire In Kyiv, families took shelter in metro stations as air raid sirens sounded. Gunfire and explosions were heard in the capital and in the western city of Lviv, where such attacks are less frequent. The governor of Lviv region, which borders Poland, said critical infrastructure was targeted in the raid. Ukraine has now lost three F-16 jets since it began flying the American-made aircraft last year. The government has not disclosed the exact number of F-16s in its fleet, but these jets have become an important part of Ukraine's defence. The pilot flew the damaged jet away from a settlement but had no time to eject before it crashed, the Ukrainian Air Force said. 'The pilot used all of his onboard weapons and shot down seven air targets. While shooting down the last one, his aircraft was damaged and began to lose altitude,' the Air Force said on Telegram. F-16 limitations in drone warfare Ukrainian military expert Roman Svitan, speaking earlier this month, said the F-16 was not ideally suited to all tasks in the war, particularly repelling drones which swarm Ukrainian cities, as it is better used against higher-speed targets. Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Ustymenko had been flying missions since the time of a campaign that began in 2014 against Russian-financed separatists who had seized parts of eastern Ukraine. 'He mastered four types of aircraft and had important results to his name in defending Ukraine,' he said. 'It is painful to lose such people.' Scale of the Russian assault The Ukrainian military said in total Russia launched 477 drones and 60 missiles of various types against Ukraine overnight. Ukrainian forces destroyed 211 of the drones and 38 missiles, it said, while 225 more drones were either lost due to electronic warfare or were decoys that carried no explosives.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Courts vs govts
Whether in US or India, judicial intervention in policy is best restricted to constitutional questions The tug-of-war between Trump and federal courts has made news through the first five months of his presidency. His executive orders on everything from birthright citizenship to govt downsizing keep stalling in these 600-odd courts. An aggrieved party can always find a friendly judge somewhere in the country – Americans call it 'judge shopping' – to block a presidential order. Not just for itself, but the entire nation. Trump's erstwhile buddy Elon Musk summed up the situation thus: 'If any judge anywhere can block every presidential order everywhere, we do not have democracy, we have tyranny of the judiciary.' But America's supreme court has now put an end to this practice of trial courts issuing 'universal injunctions'. While hearing a challenge to Trump's order on birthright citizenship, the court said federal courts cannot 'exercise general oversight of the executive branch'. In these polarised times, this decision will be hotly debated. Critics say universal injunctions are a necessary check on Trump's despotic tendency. Years may pass before the supreme court decides appeals against his orders, and thousands could be deported, sacked, or made to suffer in other ways in the interim. But objectively, such injunctions have stymied not only Trump but also his Democratic predecessors Biden and Obama. A judge in Texas blocked Obama's DACA programme in 2015. During the pandemic, federal judges blocked Biden's vaccine and mask orders. One judge even tried to ban the abortion pill, mifepristone, across America. What needs guarding here is not the president or the judges but the constitution. If the president's executive orders violate the constitution, courts should take a stand, but they shouldn't try to shape policy. Which is exactly what CJI Gavai said in Nagpur on Thursday: 'judicial activism should not turn into judicial adventurism and judicial terrorism'. In India, as in US, it is not the judiciary's job to demand or make laws. For example, India's SC was clearly out of line when it made the national anthem mandatory in cinemas, in 2016. Luckily, it corrected its decision. But judicial overreach in executive matters has become common. SC's rejection of the resolution plan for Bhushan Steel and Power is a recent example. Earlier, SC had waded into the issue of farm laws. Even HCs have trespassed into the legislative domain – consider how Manipur HC's 'recommendation' of ST status for Meiteis in 2023 sparked ethnic strife. Clearly, governance by encroachment of powers is a bad idea. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
