The ability of Ukraine’s armed forces to hold back the Russian invasion of February 2022 has provided a stunning show of bravery and determination on the part of Kyiv’s armed forces. Since the early days of the conflict, the outnumbered Ukrainian military has fought against Russian armed forces equipped with the most modern hardware that Moscow’s industry could turn out.
Nowhere has the disparity between the technological capability of the two sides appeared more pronounced than in air combat. Russia’s Aerospace Forces (VKS) have sent waves of Sukhoi Su-35s—what the Russians designate as a “4++ generation fighter—and the Su-34 regional attack aircraft and bomber, the most expensive tactical aircraft in Russia’s arsenal. Ukrainian cities have suffered poundings with air-launched missile strikes delivered from the VKS’s fleet of Tupolev Tu-22M3, Tu-95, and Tu-160 bomber aircraft.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Air Force (PSU) retains only a limited number of Mikoyan MiG-29 aircraft, a few older Su-27s, and Su-25 and Su-24 attack aircraft. Most of the aircraft began the war flying with onboard systems at least a generation older than the Russian platforms against which they must defend themselves.
Upgrading the aircraft with U.S.-made hardware is now making a difference in the air war. Last year’s integration of the U.S. AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missile, originally designed by Texas Instruments and now undergoing upgrading and production by Raytheon, stand as the most notable among the additions to the Ukrainian MiG-29s.
The missile has proven very effective for the PSU in conducting the suppression of enemy air defenses mission against Russian SAM systems. PSU MiG-29 pilots interviewed about the HARM have called it “the most advanced weapon for our aviation and extremely effective.”
More recently, the Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) precision-guided munition has been integrated with the PSU MiG-29s as well. The version provided to Ukraine is the JDAM-ER, which has an effective range of 45 miles compared with the 15-mile range of the original standard JDAM.
The U.S. sent the weapon to the PSU only in the spring of this year, based on statements by General James Hecker, the U.S. Air Force's top commander in Europe and Africa. Washington has delivered “some precision munitions” to Ukraine with an “extended range,” Hecker stated at a Colorado roundtable discussion in early March. “That's a recent capability that we were able to give them probably in the last three weeks,” he said.
Needed: Western Fighter Aircraft
Although equipping Ukraine’s Russian-design Soviet-era aircraft with advanced U.S. weaponry does provide enhanced capability in the air war, Ukrainian pilots point out that without platforms for the RTX AIM-120 AMRAAM and other “smart” air-to-ground munitions and advanced sensors to provide targeting data, the MiG-29 still “covers a very small percentage of our missions.”
As early as April of this year senior commanders in the force have singled out a protracted and increasing need for the Lockheed Martin F-16. Ukrainian PSU Brigadier General Sergei Golubtsov characterized the U.S. jet as “four to five times” more effective than the Mikoyan and Sukhoi fighters they operate today.
The current fleet of aircraft cannot neutralize and achieve control of the air over the VKS, he explained. “The F-16 is a fighter that has become a multirole aircraft, which can fulfill the entire spectrum of airborne tasks,” Golubtsov said during a broadcast on one of Ukraine’s national TV channels. “The MiG-29 unfortunately, is [an aircraft] from the last century.”
Most of the industry experts who have spoken with AIN have identified three major challenges for providing a U.S. fighter to Ukraine. For one, “there are just no significant number of spare F-16s sitting about idled and available to give to Ukraine,” said a U.S. industry specialist familiar with the Eastern European market. “The only way you can get enough aircraft to Ukraine is to take them away from some USAF or Air Guard unit that is using them at the moment.”
The second issue involves training. “The training of pilots is one issue, but the even greater challenge would be bringing the maintenance and ground servicing personnel in Ukraine up to speed,” he continued. “Ukraine’s air force uses a completely different maintenance regime and the cultural changes required will be dramatic.”
The final challenge centers on the overall organization and condition of the Ukrainian air bases themselves. Polish Air Force officers familiar with the difficulties of converting MiG-29 aerodromes to facilities suitable for operation of F-16s called it another laborious conversion effort. The entire process of providing Ukraine with a Western aircraft could require up to 18 months of training and preparation.
The Volunteer Option
Ukrainian officials have said that foreign pilots with experience in the F-16 could fly them in Ukraine. One of the most decorated U.S. military pilots, retired Lt. Col. Dan “Two Dogs” Hampton, has said he would volunteer to fly combat missions over Ukraine if given the chance. Hampton flew the F-16 for 20 years and won four Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor and a Purple Heart.
Hampton told Forces.net that identifying young pilots ready to enter flight school would be “a better short-term answer” than trying to convert existing MiG-29 pilots to U.S. aircraft. The length of time it would take presents a factor, however. Poland and other NATO nations that have transitioned from Russian to Western aircraft echoed his assessment.
For Ukraine to send select pilot trainees to the U.S. to go through its pilot training program and then pass the F-16 program from start to finish would take two years, he explained. “If [the Ukrainians] decide to go with the F-16 and they get someone to give them [the aircraft] right now, they still have to have the pilots...and the only way you're going to get that is by hiring private military contractors who are also already F-16 pilots,” Hampton continued in an interview he gave in early April. “There's a pool of foreign military pilots that could be acquired for something like this.”