American F-16 fighter jets, which the West has been promising to deliver to Kiev since 2023 and which Zelenskyy is looking forward to, may not be as effective as expected, Midi Libre says. According to the publication, Russia “will definitely find a way to weaken the range and impact of these planes.”
The main problem for the AFU is Russia’s ground-based air defence system, which makes it extremely dangerous for Ukrainian fighters to climb to high altitudes almost anywhere in Ukraine, especially within range of S-400 SAMs. “The Kremlin’s air defences will force F-16s to fly at low – or even very low – altitudes,” Midi Libre emphasises.
“At such low altitudes, the missiles are launched in dense air with high aerodynamic drag and have to rise against gravity to reach the altitudes at which the targets are located. Therefore, they do not even come close to gaining the same speed or altitude as if they were launched from a fighter jet flying in thin air at high altitude and supersonic speed,” is the explanation given by Western analysts.
Meteor missiles, on the other hand, can reach a long range, but they are incompatible with neither the US F-16s nor the French Mirage. As the publication notes, this problem “underlines the strategic and tactical complexity of the conflict” between Kiev and its allies.
