How F-16 Fighters Plan to Dominate the Sky in Ukraine
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- čas přidán 2. 10. 2023
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The United States of America recently confirmed it will deliver F-16 fighter jets to the Ukrainian air force, ending months of will-they or won’t-they speculation and just down right teasing. The F-16 is a multirole 4th generation fighter jet that has formed the backbone of Western air forces since the 1980s, with 4,600 aircraft produced and 2,100 in-use by 20 different countries, the F-16 is the most widely operated fighter in the world.
Written by: Chris Cappy & Diego Aceituno
Edited by: Savvy Studios
Along with donations of jets from other NATO allies, Ukraine will start to receive dozens of F-16s by the end of 2023, with many more to come in 2024. The West has held off on delivering Western aircraft to Ukraine until now for 2 reasons. First there were potential fears that Russia would view the transfer as a serious escalation leading to retaliation and second U.S. officials believed that learning to fly and logistically support the technologically advanced F-16 might be more difficult and time consuming than it was actually worth. Exact numbers are difficult to come by. It appears Denmark will send 6 this year and from what I could dig up it looks like they’ll eventually send a total of 19. The Netherlands has a total of 42 in their inventory but it’s unclear yet how many of them will be sent.
News agencies are naturally going bonkers with predictions about how these F-16 will either turn the tide of the war in Ukraine, or won’t make a difference at all. So in this video hopefully we can try to untangle some of that confusion. So why is the F-16 such a big deal for the air war over ukraine? I’m your average infantryman chris cappy let's find out.
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I love your videos!
it would have been nice to mention Juice RIP, he did a lot of PR for Ukraine air force.
I could be wrong here and I most likely am. But I think the time it takes to train ground crews according to the DOD is based on brand new right out of the civilian and AIT box soldiers who begin their careers as ground crews. There's allot of just basic stuff they will learn in their units over the course of a year. And I am saying this as someone who was a Bradley mechanic in the US Army for 15 yrs. A completely different field of work and vehicles but we share similar challenges as maintainers. It takes time to bring new soldiers up to speed on what they need to do and how they should do things to be able to work smoothly with the team and not against the team. If I got a brand new soldier from AIT I knew I needed time to get that soldier trained and integrated into the team. But I can also say that I have had mechanics from other MOS's completely different from mine that I have had to train. During my first tour in Iraq I had a Generator mechanic that was national guard, go active duty and was sent to my unit in Iraq (the first rotation even in country). While he knew nothing about Bradley's, he was a mechanic. And I had him mostly up to speed within 3 months. And by 6 months he was completely in tune with my Bradley team pulling packs and performing repairs. He made mistakes occasionally and that's normal for any mechanic. But they were easily corrected and fixed issues. By the time we returned back state side he was just as much a Bradley mechanic as any of my guys were. Granted he got about 8 months of state side training crammed into 2 months early on. But that's the op tempo of war time vs dwell or peace time. So I can see the Ukrainians picking up the F-16 pretty quickly as while their stuff is older and Russian. They already know the basics of being a ground crew and have done it for years. So learning more advanced and new stuff is just them adding to their already solid foundation that a new recruit simply won't have.
Issue with F16 in Ukraine will be Ukrainian pilots & crews ... and Zelensky , as Ukraine will have issue with maintence of those aicrafts , yes Ukrainine have Antonov factory , and they use soviet era fighter jests , but those soviet jets are idiot proof , F16 is another story , I can say that from poit of view of Poland that converted from Mig 21, Su-22 & Mig 29 to F16 , and there was some issues , Poland have stop "DOL" highway starts and landing , because of F16 air intake that could destroy engine , Poland have worked 3 years to be able to operate F16 from Polish airfields , and only 2008 Polish F16 where combat ready = after 5 years Polish pilots and crews started to "handle" F16 ... but Poland had time , there was no pressure , on the other side Ukraine dont have that time , 100% Ukraine will loose few F16 , I have no doubt in that , is just to little time to get ready whole system.
so this is going to be one of the dumbest things ive ever asked but i think it just clicked in my head for the 1st time in like 20 years is it multi roll as in how good they are at rolling left to right ie dog fight performance or is it multi role as in can do many different types of combat ie fighter or bomber or long distance bomber close in air support so on
From a dutchie : As far as reporting goes, the plan is to send all F-16 airframes to ukraine, be it to fly or for spare parts donors. We're replacing them with F35's. 52 to be exact. we already have 33, of which 8 are overseas for training purposes.
better than throwing them away lol
@@dead-claudiait’s actually more cost effective to give them to Ukraine than it is to throw them away. There are a lot of international regulations that make it expensive to dispose of weapons systems, so if we give them to Ukraine we don’t have to deal with that.
@@Godios119 That's a next level planning!
Thanks from the UK. It's a shame that we don't have F16s.
Apparently the Americans have hundreds of these assigned to their national guard units (part time reservists) and have sent none. It is still clear that they are afraid of russia (or in the case of the GOP, sponsored by russia?)
We send the planes, why can’t we send Wilders and Baudet? 😞
as a F-16 crew chief the entire process to be fully qualified on most basic jobs took about a year and a half. One month for fundlementals like forms and basic maintenance concepts, three months of F-16 specific training, one month of "hot" training (working around real F-16s with engine running and getting use to all the dangers associated with that) then about 8 months of on the job training to no longer be considered an apprentice.
Edit: wow this blew up. To address some of the general themes in the replys. I made no comment how F-16s will be used or maintained once in Ukraine. I just said how long it took to be considered "competent at most basic jobs" even though I've been no longer considered an apprentice for awhile now they're still jobs I've done once or twice. No matter how motivated Ukrainian maintainers are to learn this is just simply a job that takes time and expirance to learn. To add another point my tech school was more focused on basic jobs while more advanced jobs, like removing flight controls, were tought by the NCOs at my duty station. Ukraine will not have seasoned NCOs to teach new recruits. The first time something outside of what they're were tought breaks will be the first time anyone has delt with that particular issue.
You mean ... a year and a half?
Your math doesn't add up. As a crew chief I'd expect better.
Yep. All crew chiefs I met were very passionate and extremely knowledgeable. The precision instruments used in their maintenance are also of the utmost quality and test accuracy ratio. Any aviation torque wrenches that failed x1 re-adjustment attempt by me: Always got red-tagged (condemned). I'd rather have them buy a new $200 factory calibrated torque wrench for replacement -- than ever doubt one I calibrated in-lab.
So 5 months to support the plane?
In the case of Ukranians and the capabilities they have shown thus far, and considering they are in the middle of a War, I am sure they will be competent within 6 months.
At 72 yo and having worked in the military air industry for many years this was possibly the best overview of what the issue's are when changing from old to next generation systems, well done chap's👍
End of 2023 has come and gone and no F 16's still.
Training is indeed a huge challenge but protecting the jets on the ground and their engineering support areas is also a huge challenge.
Ukraine also only has 2 airfields of the quality needed to stage f16's with their delicate landing gear. This is nothing more than a PR campaign...
Ukraines air defence seems pretty air-tight (literally) right now. Russia doesn’t have a robust stealth program either. There are only a handful of Felons in service.
@@jonoleech7832 they don't need Felons when their R77s out range Ukraine's weapons and they just keep doing what they are now shooting safely from Russia.
you are the only smart guy in the room, critical thinking i give you that.
In terms of the language barrier: I know for a fact that the german air force literally only speaks english. Everything, from technical manuals for the ground crew to the on mission communication is done in english so that they can easily operate together with any of our NATO allies.
Same for Denmark.
Intelligent
The international aviation language is English because the Write Brothers were Americans
English is the language of aviation so that's not too surprising.
Albeit in general aviation it is a defined subset vocabulary - just enough to enable flight communications.
@@kerbalairforce8802it is probably English more because the Western Allies of WW2 used that language (US aerial involvement in WW1 largely relied upon French & British equipment).
Glad you mentioned the logistics and maintenance requirements of military aircraft. I was a A4 Skyhawk avionics tech back in the 1960's. Even back in those prehistoric day the support footprint was impressive.
Difficult logistical support, aka they break a lot.
SkyHawks and Phantoms! The best of OUR Era!!
@@jeffk464any piece of mechanical equipment is sure to break a lot given enough handling of soldiers
I've always wondered what maintenence must have been like on the b-36. Probably the largest plane I've ever seen with props haha
@@bobmcnelis3648 I worked Phantoms at Moody and would rather have worked Skyhawk. Avionics on F-4s was more work than engines on Vipers. Tough birds though.
F-16: "Never thought I'd die fighting side-by-side with a MiG."
MiG-29: "What about side-by-side with a friend?"
F-16: "Aye, I could do that."
Never thought humans can blog such nonsense.
@Russia-bullies nah it was funny, you're just jaded.
From your "plane" dialogue, I recalled a scene from Battlestar Galactica which a human fighting side by side with his "enemy", a cylon robot. Too bad in reality, Ukraine would have too few MIG-29 and F16 in 2024 for any meaningful air "resistance" against Russian planes.
@@DreamyCheshire-up9rf He's paraphrasing Gimli and Legolas from LoTR.
F16 that Ukraine does not have in 2024
They are still being made new in 2023; they are relatively cheap to fly and maintain (compared to the F-22); the F-16 can track multiple enemy aircraft beyond visual, and shoot them down. The F-16 is like an F-35 without stealth. A friend of mine who flew Voodoos in 'Nam said he fancied the F-16 over the F-15 and F-18.
Anything is cheap compared to the F-22 to be fair. F-16s are great aircraft though and will have no trouble contending with Russian 4th gen fighters. Considering Russias pitiful 5th gen arsenal I think they’ll do fine.
F16 that Ukraine does not have in 2024
I’m starting to think this 3 day special military operation isn’t really 3 days long
He meant to say three years or decades
nah, hearsay
Three leap days, so still well on track!
Sort of like a certain shutdown….
I thought it was a three hour tour.
a a USAF veteran the imputed losses are indeed an airframe loss but you can cannibalize them for parts for other aircraft with a very high rate of efficiency so they're not really even close to as painful a hit as losing an aircraft to enemy action.
and I bet that the Russians are running their aircraft until they drop out of the sky. Life is cheap in Putin's Russia.
Cannibalization management requires at least one cann jet per unit to buffer Supply anyway so if that one has some battle damage no big deal. In fact it can be completely torn down if the airframe is beyond economic repair and that work is fun! The USAF Cannibalization program is a key maintenance strength. I was in before it began and hangar queens were common where documentation was lost and maintainers often harvested parts on the down low to meet the flying schedule.
This guy didnt mention anything about Russian air defenses which happens to be deadly and the most numerous of any country idk if he left it out of the equation on purpose to give Ukraine hope also Russian ballistic missiles can hit any corner of Ukraine that has an airstrip with fleets of F16.
@@ibrahimmoncada2710 what air defenses? the ones that can be bypassed by paper airplanes?
@@ibrahimmoncada2710 Deadly to the user. They do a 180 and hit the launcher.
Thank you for pointing out the importance of ground crews. As a Naval Air Maintenance Petty Officer, I can attest to this.
I'm 54 and the F16 absolutely rocked me, when it first came out. It was soooo slick and frankly a beautiful aircraft, to look at.
I loved just lying in bed, looking at it's lines and loadout as, it slowly rotated on it's fishing line. Tempting the odd dream of what it would be like to fly it, as it Hung from my bedroom ceiling, I kept the model I made of it for much longer, than any other.
I didnt even blow it up with M80's, like I did the others when they began to get old or, damaged!
You know you like an aircraft, when you cant even talk yourself into filling it with various explosives, and blowing it to smithereens.
It was just too damn pretty!
The point of the F16 is, it can have most of the modern goodies attached to it.
and the down side is that they will be targeted before they take off, just like in ww2, the allies targeted me-262 jet fighters when they were low on fuel and coming in to land, as they couldn't easily be destroyed in a dogfight
the other weakness is the lack of pilots and ground crew, if you target the airbases for both F-16 on the ground, and their pilots and ground crew, its almost like fish in a barrel
for sure, ooky will protect them with SAM, but lets face it, if russia attacked with a combination of drones and kinzhal round the clock, they could wipe out the ooky airforce in its entirety, no matter how many 100s of F-16 could be donated
@@kwanchan6745 Like literally all fighters.
It can only be effective with ground weapons, its old gen air radar is out ranged. This means the Russian planes will be like long ranged F-22s, seeing and attacking while remaining undetected. Guided long ranged bombs and proper cruise missile platforms will be the devastation they bring and in that role they will excel.
@@kwanchan6745 The same can be said about Ukraine's current Soviet era planes. Almost 2 years later they haven't been wiped out yet...
@@TroutofHateit's really hard to find and kill planes that havent left civilian hangars for months.
F-16 can operate from roads. It was tested in Finland. Our air force does this in war, just like Ukraine. F-18 was selected because it had twin engines. Otherwise it was a tie.
Why not send F 15 to ukraine too?
@@huiyinghong3073 They are more expensive
Not accurate, not even close to being true
@@huiyinghong3073 ^and harder to maintain
ROCAF (Taiwanese air force) also can operate F-16s from highways, the "landing gear is fragile" argument is largely an excuse.
Loved your analysis. As a former fighter pilot, I can safely say that the task ahead for any Ukrainian pilot flying the new weapon system is quite difficult. They'll fly the jet in no time, however, operating with it and extracting all the potential the equipment itself can offer will take many, many, flight-hours. Then you have to incorporate the tactics, the complexity of joint operations, and become proficient in the different roles one might have to perform (from a fighter in pure air-to-air to a ground attack role) to become finally combat-ready... as a wingman. Two years of flying like a maniac to be able to counter well-trained and well-equipped Russian pilots. In times of war, there is no such window for it unless one accepts a high probability of not surviving the first mission.
While I agree with you on how long it will take for Ukrainian pilots to become fully proficient at using their newest aircraft to the its fullest ability, I think you're off about Russian pilots wiping the floor with them. A lot of the information I've seen indicates they are suffering from many of the same issues that the rest of the Russian army is, even in more elite units, surrounding proper training, readiness, upkeep of their equipment, etc. Additionally, with how proficient ground units have become at bringing down Russian aircraft with surface to air missiles, how many of those ace pilots are left in Russia?
@@Tirani2 One of the biggest mistakes one can make is to underestimate the adversary. The nazis did, didn't they? The Russians did it at the beginning of this war, didn't they?
No matter who is flying experienced pilot or fresh trained Ukrainian pilot , outcome will be the same 1-2 flights before it gets downed by superior Ru aircraft or air defense
This guy didnt mention anything about Russian air defenses which happens to be deadly and the most numerous of any country idk if he left it out of the equation on purpose to give Ukraine hope also Russian ballistic missiles can hit any corner of Ukraine that has an airstrip with fleets of F16,......
The same guy that gave us the video This is how leopards will dominate the war in Ukraine ROFL.,,,,
nice one Cappy! another great and detailed video!
Gripens were designed from day one to operate in dispersed operations & be serviced by conscripts & one fully trained mechanic. No need for airbases or runways. Pity there's so few of them about. Wishful thinking, but if the Swedes scraped together about twenty airframes, kitted them out with Meteors & allowed Ukraine to go all in, I think Gripen sales might take off, especially if Ukraine put out videos of them attacking Russian positions.
Well because of economy of scale, F35’s are cheaper than Gripens so countries are choosing a 5th gen aircraft over a more expensive 4.5 gen aircraft.
I think Sweden want to sell, not give. Also still afraid of irking the Russians who are much closer neighbors
I agree, success in Ukraine boosts sales.
@@jebrehbaker8613Sweden isn't yet part of NATO, so I can see where your coming from.
@@ice_hot Fair point, however the operating costs and ability of the gripen to operate from any runway with mostly conscript support personnel I think are advantages that are tailor-made for the war.
Finally, at about 19:50; I heard an intelligent assessment of what really it takes to operate an airframe. All credit usually goes to pilots, but people need to understand that maintainers and support crew are as important (or more) for the operation. Training for maintenance (all thing consider) requires much more resources.
Thanks you. Pilots on the line know this, but the mechanics behinds the scenes that make the aircraft able to make it into the air and over the target are doing the real work. They aren't risking their lives per se, but they are making it all possible.
My brother in law was the wing commander at Travis during Iraq and he credited his maintenance and support teams for the mission success.
Of course, a pilot without an operational aircraft can't do anything.
Good point you need a well oiled machine
jets are fairly easy to work on,just like a car.i dont things break very often,not for the price these things cost id hope they are built fairly strong..maintenance is mostly changing oils and greasing bearing which isnt much.
You are an excellent presenter. Not sure about your support staff but the writing, editing, presentation etc are 1st class. I learn something everytime I watch. You attract very smart, experienced qualified people as commenters. Your comments section is a gold-mine of information.
What a well balanced report! Thank you, this is not propaganda but true and balanced reporting. Well done!
Top speed doesn't matter in a dog fight, all fighters slow down to just below Mach 1 to perform aerial maneuvers in dogfighting. And any top speed is far below the speed of AA missiles
Top speed matters when fighters need to scramble and intercept bogeys.
@@ViolentCabbage-ym7ko A study showed the F14s were never used at top speed as it wasted too much fuel so subsequent jets were designed slower. If you have a better radar and long range missiles why move the plane closer?
dogfights do not exist anymore, now its all about best radar and best missile
A higher top speed can help with compression and disengage ability.
The f15 ex reportedly has a top speed of mach 2.9. It is designed as an interceptor. Whats the point of going fast? To get in the air quickly to intercept incoming craft. Not to get close, TO INTERCEPT. This means launching missiles and landing.
The F14’s were fucking trash to begin with as well, on top of being incredibly heavy and large. Subsequent jets were slower because speed was not a priority for the combat role as outrunning missiles just wasn’t feasible.
I'm from a NATO post-Soviet-block country and your measured views of the geopolitical aspects of things - as well as your general likeable demeanor and extensive knowledge - have made me an instant fan when I recently discovered you. Keep up the amazing work, Chris! (And anyone who helps you out, let's not forget those legends)
Yeah you let me know if any of their predictions ever pan out 😂
Spoiler alert, everything they say here is complete nonsense.
They ride the line so that they don't directly make any claims. They just imply imply imply which is enough for ignorant Western masses to soak up.
It's always "oh it could, should, maybe, might, someday, possibly if the sun aligns with a monkey's butt crack...
As usual, an excellent presentation! Thank you!
Great point about the true value of the weapons transfers compared to the initial cost and the scuttle costs. That paints a much different picture.
F22 is over 20hrs per hour I believe. Maintenance crews are clutch and why war games like William Tell, its not just the pilots competing, the crews are just as invested FTW
Guys, I’ve made it to round 40 on der riese with randoms (waw version)
FUCK YEAH! Keep going
Couple based bois
man, didnt knew still has active servers!!
Oh yeah. Well I made it to 77 on nok Der toten. Had to pause it for 3 days. The rounds got so long and the zombies took so many bullets. Only way to kill them was with the thunder gun. I eventually dropped the remote intentionally
@@jaymesnin on the world at war version, you can use the flamethrower as after round 30, the flamethrower gets an increase in damage every round to be able to kill the zombies, which will be the only weapon in nacht that would be able to do so on that high of a round, also it has unlimited ammo
As a retired military service technician for a major US weapons system, ground crew/field maintenance personnel training and proficiency as a necessity is an understatement. To keep weapon systems off the deadline and in combat readiness is a 24/7 endeavor. And that specialized personnel need support as well to keep them able to perform and stay on task for their job descriptions. I entered the military at the age of 26 and including my basic training, it took 36 months of advanced and specialized training in my fields of maintenance. I had already had a degree in engineering so I was already way ahead of the learning curve. I entered an E-4 pay grade because I refused the offer to inter as an officer. My goal was to get to the Warrant officer ranks and still be able to be hands-on in my maintenance and engineering fields of work and study. My 36 months included NCO schools as I completed my training as an E-6 and after my 36 months I was accepted into warrant officer school and the associated training that went with it took another 12 months. And I was on the fast track. There is a reason why the US military has a much larger number in proportion to enlisted/NCO/Officer warrant ranks than other militaries. I was not about to have to pick up my toolbox and get my hands dirty, as that is what I wanted. I had already worked for a government industrial contractor for 4 years when I took a 7-year sabbatical to enlist in the military and returned to work at the plant but stayed in the reserves to get my 20 + years of service. My 7 years was credited to my company service so I did not lose out in that regard. I had 5 weeks vacation waiting for me at the start. :) At 17 years they tried to force me to go back to active duty for 5 years or let me go and not get my 20 years. So I entered the National Guard and had to take a 3-step reduction in rank from WO 4 to WO 1. At that point, I just wanted to get my 20 years. I was assigned as an instructor for my last 4 years and retired with 21 years with my retirement at a WO 4 level at an active duty pay scale as I did serve in combat in the war. I worked the hell out of the system and feel no shame for it. My education and company helped in my military career and my military career helped in my company career. The task for the Ukrainians is a daunting one migrating over to high-tech state of the art Western weapon systems as a whole but it is a matter of survival for them so I see them doing so just fine. My whole life has been an exception to the rules and I never took the traditional path to reach my goals in life. I am blessed to be totally retired from the military and my former employer. I am an exception to the rules and I see Ukrain to be the exception to the rules. :) Ukraine has suffered greatly, but I have no doubt they will come out victorious and stronger in the end.
Ukraine called, they need you over there asap
Thank You for your service Brother! USMC 69-73
Interesting story thanks for sharing
If ya'll are wondering, this is why paragraphs are important. Thanks for the story tho.
@@ndnOutlaw-nm9dr Thank you for your confidence. Regrettably, I am just an old soldier with health issues and dependencies on medications that disqualify me from service in Ukraine's Fogion Legon. I did check into it at the start of the war.
The runway situation makes me thing that the Gripen is actually more suited for this war than the F-16, it's just a shame there isn't an enormous stock of them that is becoming surplus like the F-16... you fight the war with what you have.
The Gripen wouldn't last a month, the F16 is better at everything over the Gripen and the F16s will still get shot down too. Stealth jets is the only jets that would help in this war cause of manpads and air defense systems are covering too much ground, and they will never send stealth jets to Ukraine!
Wishful thinking. Gripen itself isnt the main problem, spare parts and qualified ground crew etc is. SAAB-the manufacturer of Gripen- is very small-scale
compared to all the American companies, albeit I am sure they as everybody else can ramp up production of 'everything' significantly, given the resources.
F-16 was chosen given to Ukraine for one reason-logistical capacity. It is the only jet produced by the US where US Western allies has significant contributions to offer.
Not only the jets themselves, but spareparts, general competance in every department regarding human resources etc
Much appreciated content. Thank you.
One thing you seem to be forgetting about these "delays" is that every time we've seen something like this happen, the Ukrainians miraculously learn how to instantly use the systems.
What this means is that we're bringing their people over to do the training FIRST and then once the Ukrainians know how to effectively use a system, we then give it to them.
As such, the reality is that Ukrainian pilots, maintenance and support crews spent the past year or so training on the F16 and so this announcement that we're going to start sending them the F16 means that their training is now complete.
The quality of the pilots is huge
Training is never complete. A good pilot is always learning, but Ukrainians have shown remarkable resourcefulness and innovation not seen in Russia. Victory to Ukraine!
He fails to mention that Russia has downed a Ukrainian plane at more than 300 km! Fact. So he is not mentioning the longer range missiles. Nor does he mention the range of the S400 missiles. The F16s from Holland going to Ukraine are over 40 years old so they don’t have 4500 hrs of life left. Recently the Russians have used AWACS aircraft and S400s to down 27 Ukraine planes in 5 days. These F16s the west is sending are going to be downed in a Turkey shoot. The pilots will only need to know how to get airborne in many cases. The F16 is not a game changer like the tanks they will burn brightly. The tale of what the Russians don’t have and the effectiveness of western kit is belied by what has been happening in Ukraine. But let’s see who is right once these F16s show up.
German Leopard panzers burning,..., well I guess a year of pilot training can make them make toe to toe with Russian fighter pilots
That's a laugh JacobBogers! Current Russian fighter pilots are just out of training, having all the experienced pilots having got shot down. New pilots only know how to shoot down drones going straight and level!
What about the 70 F/A18's that Australia is retiring for Ukraine?
Yup, still say F18's would be a better fit for Ukraine 👍
Damn shame they don't still have the F-111.
@@jmjones7897or heck, not like we re using the old f117s
@@Qbgarden I believe we are brother. Not officially mind you
@@Qbgarden There are reports of Nighthawks operating in Syrian theatre as well as West Coast of CONUS. Markings changed/ scrubbed
Non- standard coatings,etc.
Unofficially.
I'm fairly sure Uncle Sugar has more than a few surprises up his old long sleeves
This was another fantastic presentation. Great job and I learned so much.
For me this is the first video which sensibly explains why the F-16 is so important for Ukraine defense.
I have a feeling they’re gonna employ contractors from General Dynamics and Lockheed to service those jets until Ukrainians get remotely up to speed, which will be a few years. As a weapons loader who started on F-16’s, it took about 5 months of technical training before becoming an apprentice. It’s probably longer for other maintenance fields. Even with Technical Orders (step by step maintenance procedures) it’s still difficult to maintain without seasoned guidance. Also not only do you have to worry about direct maintainers like crew chiefs, specialists, weapons, etc, you also have to take support maintenance into account. Support flights like AGE, engines, armament backshop, fuels, avionics, and more, are just as important and detrimental to effective maintenance rates. Sure the F-16 is more capable on paper, but if you’re not sending them up at a high rate because of maintenance time and lack of support, it’s not gonna be an immediate game changer.
Hey fella, Your motivation to learn was not burdened with a real war to contend with. your lack of motivation to learn was zero in comparison to Ukrainian people whom will take on the roles that you have mentioned. Comparing skill factors of yourself to a person whom learning is LIFE and DEATH dependant task of fellow Ukrainian person which includes both military and civilian folk. wake up and smell the roses dude
@@RNZN102939 Maybe so, however that doesn't make him wrong.
Smell the Roses , Dude
There going to be hit and killed by Russian cruise missiles so I doubt that
@@RNZN102939 Not sure where you got motivation and life/death, like it's anime, from the obvious problem which is lack of support facilities, equipment, and YEARS of on-the-job training to maintain a completely different airframe than what they're accustom to, but okay dude. You can keep your roses, my guy. You might've sniffed too much.
Can't remember when but I believe the US was able to directly compare the Mig29 to the F16, and found the F16 more maneuverable at high speeds, but less so at low speed maneuvers
No believing necessary. There were various official anouncements to that, the oldest beeing one from the US goverment months ago that 2 ukrainian pilots were beeing trained in the us to see what training would be needed.
and irrelevant as both will operate the same when its side has no air superiority. AKA low flight as the ukis have been doin.
@@marcinm2871 Didn't say it was super relevant, just sharing some trivia :)
@@FishFlys sharing irrelevant BS.
@@marcinm2871why are u so mad bruh
Having listened to some experts, or at minimum professionals in military aviation, they say those runways will be a problem. The F-16 has a very aggressive air intake that will vacuum the runway. Hopefully, there are well-crafted plans to deal with this.
Really Informative and A+ Delivery of Content with pertinent technical content.
The F16 excels on SEAD if equipped and piloted with proper weapons it could make a difference
I was thinking the same. It really depends on what armament they will be sent with. If the 16 is sent with HARMs and HTS, it could really help more AG and AA missions.
EDIT: For those that care, he does mention harms a little bit in the video, but points to the wrong area where the sensors are. HTS sits on the bottom left of the aircraft.
@adamrickman2461 even long range AA missiles will make huge impact to counter strike helicopters away from combat lines
Nope
The "wild weasel" tactics are no longer applied since there are ADM-160 MALD decoy missles (which Ukraine already has and used) and AGM-88 HARM anti radar missiles (which Ukraine is already using)
F-16 after necessary upgrades can carry JASSM cruise missilec but guess what- Ukraine is already its twin-brother using storm-shadow.
The old versions of F-16 used by Dutch won't change that much when compared to Su-35 in terms of avioncs, but the second has got much better maneuverability (speed and altitude, which is immensly important in air dominance fight; F-16 simply is not an air-dominance fighter)
If Ukraine got lets say 10 F-15ex and 10 F-35 with proper armaments, pilots and maintenance it could establish no-fly zone over Ukraine for Russians.
But it's not going to be the case.
And bunch of elderly F-16 won't change much.
@@knoahbody69 Don't fall into a trap of Ukrainian propaganda. Russians have made a lot mistakes especially in 2022 but complete belittling them leads us to inaccurate strategic assesments and led Ukrainians to grievous mistakes on the battlefield.
The notion of not being able to compete with Su-35 with Mig-29 and Su-27 comes from Ukrainian pilots themselves, they wouldn't be saing this if there were 4 such planes in good order.
F-16 is not a wonder weapon.
Especially jets made in the early 1990s.
no but it flies good and launches modern missiles which is way better than broken ancient soviet planes.
@@mshepard2264Flies good until it becomes scrap metal in Ukraine. People should stop having the mentality that Western weapons are superior because it will burn the same
Dutch F16's are up to date .
Great report. Thank you!!!
Interesting as always, but I feel you glossed over the threat of AA missiles and newer Russian jets. So to say that the F16 was dominating the skies over Ukraine might be a bit premature.
To expand on what was said about the F-16's HARM capabilities, having miltiple F-16's together also allows for much greater accuracy as they trangulate the targets location via datalink.
Why not send F 15 to ukraine too?
@@huiyinghong3073 why not send F18's and A-10's? All these planes make sense, but Ukraine need the infrastructure and training to support the aircraft. I suspect the F-16 was chosen as the first aircraft for a couple of reasons. It's relatively cheap compared to other aircraft, but it's an incredible "Wild Weasel". One of it's biggest strengths is its ability to suppress and destroy enemy air defences, which helps with air dominance.
@@Moist_Noodle They can just take F16 and F15 from the boneyard and send it to ukraine.
@@huiyinghong3073 It isn't that easy. They have to be refitted with down graded avionics and radar, because nobody is getting our state of the art (what we use) avionics and radar, nobody. It's not just the avionics, it's also returning the fuel, hydraulic and ECS systems to airworthy status. Hydraulic pumps, fuel pumps, fuel controls all need to be removed, torn down inspected, repaired and reinstalled. Some will be beyond repair and need replacing. Who's got the spares to cover that? The Pentagon isn't going to leave itself short on parts. It can be done but it's not as easy as cheap or as fast as people may think it is
Probably trilaterate, not triangulate. Trilateration uses distances, while triangulation uses angles. That said, people mistake trilateration for triangulation.
Best explanation I've heard and I've watched several videos on the topic. Good work 👏
I do appreciate your videos with your info. I am so illiterate with this military equipment that you educate all.
Thanks for ALWAYS making an AMAZING video!!
Not so amazing. He had some contradictions in the video.
Reality check doesn't bother you?
The f16 doesn't use the TomTom gps unit duct taped to the dash like you see in Russian jets.
The Netherlands hasn’t forgotten about MH17.
❤Very good info. Thank you!
As an AMD Avionics technician & a corporate jet Simulator Technician, I find this Vlog having integrity!
Thank you!
Slava Ukraine ❤
Navy veteran, understanding the issues of Russia!
I have achieved neighborhood air superiority with my DGI drone. Haha.
Chris, excellent piece on the Viper. You really capture a lot of the finer details that people ought to know. A couple of notes…
17:19 - The Viper pilot in your photo is Lt Col Seth “Jethro” Nehring from the 194FS, CA ANG. Jethro was killed on 16 Oct 2018 in a SU-27 crash in Ukraine during exercise “Clear Sky 2018”.
22:52 - The pilot you are referring to as “Ace” is actually Major Andrii “Juice” Pilshchykov. A true Ukrainian hero who lost his life recently on 25 Aug 2023 in a training accident. Jethro and Juice were close friends and colleagues through California ANG’s partnership with Ukraine.
Thank you for the excellent work!
Eternal Glory to the Heroes 🫡
🇺🇸💪🇺🇦
😢
The same guy that gave us the video This is how leopards will dominate the war in Ukraine ROFL,......
Great content. Thank you.
Cheers for the constructive & accurate content 👊👊👊
thanks for the comprehensive lecture allowing us to understand the problem with replacing MIG and SU fighters with F16
The F16 is a step up for Ukraine but the Swedish plane would have been a better option. Less maintenance resources and being able to land on a road is a big deal in their environment.
I presume you're talking about the Gripen?
Problem is that Sweden doesn't have a huge amount of them (they have ~100 active) and the other operators are less than inclined to help Ukraine (Brazil, South Africa and Hungary). Czech has some on lease, but that's about it.
The Swedes offered to let the Ukrainian pilots try them out, but they aren't sacrificing their own fleet.
Poland still has IIRC about 30 Mig-29s on Nato munition spec, they should send them. But the Polish/Ukraine relationship is souring atm.
There is such a thing as an "Expiration Date". Having Europe get rid of old aircraft is but a business that comes with moral bonuses
@@smalltime0 Ukraine will soon have Gripens...they are working out delivery now as training has been going on for a while behind the scenes, when they though F16`s would not enter the war.
F-16'S
-higher thrust-to-weight ratio, giving it superior acceleration and maneuverability
-greater maximum payload of 8 tons of weapons on 9 hard points
-compatible with a wider range of U.S. ground-attack weapons
@@sqnhunter its conditional on Sweden joining NATO, which is problematic because Turkey and Hungary have vowed to block it.
Even if the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments adopt the accession protocol - it is still up to Erdogan himself to approve it (also Novákin Hungary, but she'd likely approve is parliament does).
That's before you get into the details of what they would provide.
Excellent analysis. TY
Well done.
Thanks.
The same way Leo2 are dominating the fields.
Hey Chris, I Thank you for Your Service, I go this whenever talking to Veterans. I especially enjoy talking with the few WW2 Veterans, these guys are amazing. There was a WW2 Veteran Vincent Speranca who was in the 101st Airborne at the Battle of Bastogne.
Vincent was 99 years old when I watched him tell his story on CZcams, Thank You CZcams 🇺🇸
Vincent wrote a book a few years ago and still goes around American Veterans Centers. I maybe off with the spelling of Vincent’s last name ???
He was born in NYC and his family had immigrated to NYC in the early 1900’s. I surely hope Vincent is still alive and enjoying life telling Veterans what the realities of Combat truly is, and how when you think that you have nothing left to give and that is when your Training kicks in.
Nobody knows it all as a retired licensed plumbing and heating contractor, I was always going to seminars to stay updated on new technologies.
The Ukrainian people are very quick to learn, self survival is a powerful motivator.
Slava Ukraine and Glory to all of the Ukrainian People 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
A game changer like the leopard 2 was ....
It changed image of "superior NATO equipment" to "burns too, maybe little harder than Russian, but still burns".
Invisible 1970s F16s dominate the skies over Ukraine. Now thats impressive.
Thanks for that video. I learned so much about the capabilities of the F-16 jets and the huge amount of maintenance they require--a whole eco-system. Thank you.
Bottom line: to have significant effect you need to deliver 200 pcs in flying condition and for contested airspace about 500.
Mb even more. Don’t forget about ground AA which also will cause lots of damage and missile strikes on airbases.
@@innelator6941 Correct, and my point was that 20-50 planes are just pinprick, not game changer. However, if you exclude Greece and Turkey who need F-16 for each other, there is not that many of F-16 in Europe.
Yeah all this talk of western tech that is going to be a "gamechanger" comes of as cheap propaganda to me when they are only sent in 20-30 units. Ukraine is still going to rely on the old reliable soviet stocks they have.
@@quan-uo5ws Old soviet weapons are on short supply in whole Europe, so Ukraine is not getting replacements.
@@mladenmatosevic4591 Well im talking about the stuff that they themselves have, for example they may have 15 abrams tanks or 20 leopard 2s from the west but most of the figthing will still be done by the hundreds of T-64s they have in operation. Plus they arleady received hundreds of T-72s from Europe.
Thanks for the video
Another well presented video.
F16 will unlock more attack modes and more modern versions of HARM missiles. The huge increase in SEAD/DEAD by gaining F16s is huge.
Unlocking more modern version? What is this ? War Thunder? The West is not going to send new versions of HARM. Ukraine will get what's available on offer, and I doubt new versions will be on the menu.
O% f16 .what dreams. Surrender and save lives.only option
Another balanced presentation, no doom and gloom, no starry eyed optimism.
Balanced opinion I think not. You have to read between the lines of what Cappy is not saying. The F-16s that Ukraine is getting from the EU countries are old and basically end of life. That's one of the reasons why they are being replaced. Those F-16s are already working over their service life (if not then near to EOL) and would probably receive abrupt catastrophic failures in flight if over stressed. None of these planes are going to receive any latest technology updates. The same will happen in the air as on the ground when the Leopards and other EU tanks were introduced and the Abhrams soon to be. It becomes a big target and every Russian pilot and/or AD operator will want a piece of it. You might as well paint the jet red, read your last rites because chances of returning from each sortie is a lottery.
@@saranjs3365 The F-16's are older, but they're being replaced to make way for F-35's, not because they're about to fall apart in mid-air. I don't think sending state-of-the -art aircraft is in the cards (yet). As for that, the remaining Russian jets are being rode hard and put up wet: maintenance intervals are stretched out, and airframes are at increased risk of failure.
Their intended use is not to dogfight, but to deliver better and longer ranged ordinance that can't be adapted to Ukrainian jets.
About the Leopards and Bradleys,: no, they can be disabled by mines and artillery, just like any Soviet designed tank, the difference being they don't toss their turrets, and the crew and passengers are frequently seen bailing out and running away.
I also doubt that an F-16 will attract more attention than any other aerial target- an enemy jet is an enemy jet. As for painting it red, well, radar? And the chance of return is a lottery, anyway, but his opinion is that the F-16's won't be as far forward as the Ukrainian jets have to be, have better sensors, and can attack from further away, making the lottery odds a bit better. Also, anti-radiation missiles will make Russian AD less effective, and numerous.
Another Great video from SP4 Cappy. Keep them coming.
SGT DOUG, RECON, 101ST, RVN 68-69
Excellent. Thanks. 😎
Thank you for mentioning support personnel. Not every ground crew member needs to be a master mechanic but having at least one per shift is critical. A single experienced mech can coordinate 5-7 apprentice techs pretty effectively. I imagine contract maintenance will be the most effective option for this.
Exactly. They don't all need to be. The masters teach the other technicians. All u need is enough master tech to teach every body else. Its not rocket science,and Ukraine has a more incentive to learn faster. Which they will. To much is focused on how Ukraine can do this. Give them what they need,and they will master it in a shorter time.
R.I.P. Andrii "Juice" Pilshchykov, (callsign was Juice, not Ace). He really pushed for these and it's nice to know that his effort was not in vain. As far as maintainers go, let's not forget that while the Ukrainian maintainers haven't worked on F-16's, they have been working on all of the high performance stuff they're using now. So yes, there's still a learning curve, but I guarantee they'll pick things up faster as they're already aircraft mechanics.
Your sincere sounding and polite manner of ending your videos does remind me to consider the Like button.
Excellent presentation.
I get a grin as you display and credit two of my favorite DCS channels :) Cool!
Those Dutch F-16's aren't spring chickens either. I've seen some of them being build at Fokker when I was a boy. Although they've always been diligently maintained and modernized (that's more than can be said about myself).
Thanks for the update "the not so average infantryman Chris Cappy".
Excellent!
Thanks Infantryman! Very clear and very useful presentation. Many of us have had these questions but have not yet seen them so well explained. (BTW: Thanks for your continued efforts on a couple of pronunciation issues.)
Practically and politically, your comments on out of pocket expenses vs. sharing military surplus are very important. In the US press, people see those initial values and not necessarily what is taken out of the budget.
Prosecuting a war is so challenging. And making decisions about life and death must be really painful for all involved. Thanks for giving us a small peek and hint at what's involved. Great production.
What they're doing here is really dangerous and stupid. Rather than getting them to the negotiating table they're sending them more weapons. Isn't that wickedness?
@@ao4514who are they going to negotiate with?
Prosecuting a totally avoidable war is even more challenging. In fact, it's stupid!
@@ao4514 you're a fool if you honestly believe that putin can be reasoned with... putin would only accept the complete surrender of Ukraine and its sovereignty, which is absolutely unacceptable for Ukraine as well as Ukraine's European neighbors. "Negotiating" with putin now would be repeating the same mistake the US made with their policy of "appeasement" with hitler back in the 1930's.
Putin's ultimate stated goal is to take back all territories of the former USSR, which is a complete non-starter for what should be _obvious_ reasons. None of that land belongs to ruzzia.
This guy didnt mention anything about Russian air defenses which happens to be deadly and the most numerous of any country idk if he left it out of the equation on purpose to give Ukraine hope also Russian ballistic missiles can hit any corner of Ukraine that has an airstrip with fleets of F16..
I have seen a lot of F-16s among the usual F-35s flying over Luke AFB. This explains it. Thank you Cappie.
Question is about flight hours of old Danish and Dutch F-16A delivered, they are by sure at end of their lifespan.
On top with satellite coverage in real time, Russians will not let fly them from needed runways inside Ukraine.
From outside, countries will be in status of war with Russia.
The maintenance and airfield issue is also a reason they want the Gripen as well, it is way more suited to Ukraines needs and conditions, but there's not very many airframes available.
Denmark has donated 19 F-16 to Ukraine with a timeline of 6 airframes by end 2023, 8 airframes in 2024 and the remaining 5 in 2025, with the possibility of further deliveries depending on the timely delivery to the Royal Danish Airforce of the 27 F-35A deliveries from Lockheed. By August Denmark was already training at least 73 Ukrainian ground personnel and pilots in the operation of the F-16 platform.
Holland is in a similar position with 42 active F-16 being donated to Ukraine. 24 of these are operational and will be transferred as soon as pilots and ground personnel has been trained. the remaining 18 planes will be serviced and potentially upgraded, for later delivery to Ukraine. A third donor, Norway, has committed to delivery of 10 F-16 airframe to Ukraine. The timetable is unclear. - Subsequently the US has offered to assist Denmark, Holland and Norway, in the training of Ukrainian pilots starting in October this year. Which weapon systems are going to be delivered with the abovementioned donations have not been disclosed at this time.
Great! And in 18 months, ukranian pilots who have never flown a western jet will be combat effective... that's mid 2025 if you're doing your math by which point, Russia will already have controlled Odessa and everything east of it and reached an agreement with the Pro -Russian government that will have succeeded Zelensky's...
Precise, good explanation. That should debunk some myths.
Thanks for your comprehensive assessment of Ukraine's need and preparation for receiving the F-16 fighter jets. I learned a lot!
I like a lot of your information it is concise and informative. In the world of AI, the flight manual can be interpreted in seconds as accurately as any human could do including illustrations. I don't thing the information lag will be much shorter than your report.
This channel has great editors
Propagandists
@@Deno2100lots of propaganda is well made nowadays
Great video Cappy! I honestly think this was one of your best videos. You and your team continue getting better and better at getting at the heart of the issue whilst making it understandable for the layman. Each analysis you guys put out is high quality and seem accurate once you get the full picture after watching the video. Keep up the good work!
Yeah, this stuff is gold. I couldn't get a better assessment from the Joint Chiefs. Much respect Chris!
develop a skill and get some self esteem
@@cboyslim5490 What are you talking about?
@@cboyslim5490 you mean like the ones implied by my programming degrees?
@@joedume8932⁵⁵þ
Excellent analysis
Clearly they don’t know the power of an Su 35.
As a former RAN Seahawk mechanic, I appreciate the shout out to the work maintenance personnel do. 🍻
For some reason I thought you meant A-4 SkyHawk 🤣
@@neuropilot7310
All good buddy
Nice video but the real battle for air superiority is here in the comments.
Thanks
You betcha
Great job.
Great analysis mate! For your information Australia is supposedly send surplus F/A 18’s as well - obviously with the same issues
@@thecountofmarsi yep saves having to dispose of them ourselves or put them on Pickles ;)
Another great video. Thank you for sharing sir! 🇺🇸
Excellent coverage of this issue. Grants you a sub 💙💛
Just a shout out for your outstanding overview of the Ukranian situation. 👍👍
F-16 will not significantly change the situation. Ukraine doesn't operate the needed force multiplier assets that NATO has to maximize the F-16's effectiveness.
Edit: I'm also not a big fan of advertising any weapon system given to Ukraine as "game changer". Warfare is the totality of system versus system, which includes weapon, training, intelligence, tactics, communication, coordination and logistics. I think we should avoid putting "dominate" in the titles.
Thats my thinking as well... i question whether even the US could dominate the skies IF ALL THEY HAD was the promised f16s and a few old soviet eta aircraft....
that's why they're building out support for much of them
Ukraina between 400thousands and 500..no people. Who operates these western equipments. Nato soldiers. Are they die.yes how many .nobody knows
Great high level presentation Mr. Cappie!
There are a lot of military channels here on YT but you beat most of them with your strategic style of presentation and the consequentiality of your entire delivery.
Bravo.
Greetings from the UK,
Anthony
is this a high level rpesentation when he says that the f16 can fly into russian territory? which is not allowed? storm shadow, f 16, all this equiment may not be used on russian soil, so how could they fly there?
The same guy that gave us the video This is how leopards will dominate the war in Ukraine ROFL......
@@ibrahimmoncada2710 this is a stupid comment. because the leo is making a difference as we saw and additionally Russia is losing it
@MrTiti ..The few leopards left are not even in the frontlines anymore because they are magnets for Ka52 and lancet drones 😂😂
@@ibrahimmoncada2710 aha and now we see they have a accuracy of 90% and there are 5 damaged in weeks. and 130 Russian litterboxes on ONE day. 26times more destroyed. in a single day... baby, that stuff u take is really giving you a huge insight into your dreams
@8:25 What's a "Tansmeter and Reciver" hahaha