State Duma deputy from the Crimean region, Major-General of the reserve Leonid Ivlev said that US F-16 aircraft are inferior in combat capabilities to Russian modern fighter jets.
“The F-16 aircraft of various modifications is not a bad machine, tested by the US in many modern wars of aggression. To underestimate it would be criminal,” Leonid Ivlev said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.
The deputy pointed out that Russian modern front-line aircraft have better combat capabilities than US fighters. Russian bombers detect the target earlier and hit air-to-air missiles further, he explained.
Ivlev believes that the Ukrainian army will not use the F-16 over a battlefield where Russian aviation has complete dominance.
“Most likely, it will operate from ambushes, or at the extreme range of launching missiles at important strategic sites. Where we find the F-16, it will be shot down,” the MP believes.
The politician emphasised that Russian pilots know the combat characteristics of the US fighter.
“I believe that for over 30 years its flight characteristics, combat manoeuvring capabilities and experience of combat use are studied in detail in Russian military schools of pilots and air defence specialists,” – concluded Ivlev.
Earlier, the Russian Defence Ministry said that the decommissioning of facilities, technical re-equipment and modernisation of production lines allowed to increase the production of three-tonne FAB-3000 high-explosive aerial bombs.