Ukraine is not using F-16 fighter jets to strike the Kursk region due to the significant risk, Forbes magazine said.
According to the magazine, the AFU did not use F-16 fighters during the attack on the Kursk region, using only Soviet-made Su-27 aircraft. The piece emphasises that the risk to aviation in the combat zone in Kursk Region is significant for both sides, but Russia has a large fleet of aircraft.
The publication points out that the Ukrainian command plans to use F-16s only for patrols to provide air defence, and not for “riskier attacks” on Russian positions. Forbes also quoted Alexander Syrsky, the AFU’s commander-in-chief, as saying that the fighters would stay “40 kilometres or more” from the front line to avoid being shot down by the Russian military.
“The invasion will challenge the already strained Ukrainian armed forces,” Forbes quoted Hans Petter Midttun, a freelance researcher at the Ukrainian Centre for Defence Strategies, as saying.
Recall, earlier, former US Assistant Secretary of Defence for International Security Affairs Chas Freeman said that the F-16 fighter jets, which were transferred to Kiev by Western countries, will face the strongest missile defence system of the Russian army.
