{"id":83574,"date":"2023-05-22T17:16:37","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T17:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/05\/22\/f-16s-key-step-for-ukraine-but-wont-be-game-changer-secaf-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:56:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:56:17","slug":"f-16s-key-step-for-ukraine-but-wont-be-game-changer-secaf-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/05\/22\/f-16s-key-step-for-ukraine-but-wont-be-game-changer-secaf-says\/","title":{"rendered":"F-16s key step for Ukraine, but won\u2019t be \u2018game-changer,\u2019 SECAF says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Training <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2023\/03\/07\/which-fighter-jet-is-best-for-ukraine-as-it-fights-off-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighters<\/a> is a key step in building that nation\u2019s future air force, U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday \u2014 but he doubts Fighting Falcons will change the course of Ukraine\u2019s war against Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">F-16s \u201cwill give the Ukrainians an increment of capability that they don\u2019t have right now,\u201d Kendall said in a breakfast roundtable with reporters hosted by the Defense Writers Group. \u201cBut it\u2019s not going to be a dramatic game-changer, as far as I\u2019m concerned, for their total military capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kendall said<b> <\/b>that while F-16s will help Ukraine, they won\u2019t fundamentally alter the balance of power in the war. Effective ground-based air defenses on both sides have meant airpower has not played a decisive role in Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, Kendall said, and fighters have been used in fairly limited ways as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more than a year, Ukraine has repeatedly asked the United States and European<b> <\/b>nations to provide fourth-generation F-16s or other fighters. Those requests were always rebuffed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2023\/05\/21\/how-us-support-for-pilot-training-could-pave-path-to-f-16s-for-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\">situation changed last week<\/a>, when President Joe Biden announced the United States would support <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2022\/07\/15\/house-authorizes-training-for-ukrainian-pilots-to-use-us-aircraft\/\" target=\"_blank\">training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s<\/a>, paving the way for Ukraine to receive those fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Monday\u2019s breakfast, Kendall said Ukraine has been \u201cvery understandably unrestrained\u201d in their requests for weapons and hardware such as F-16s from the United States and other nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But other weapons packages to Ukraine have been \u201cincredibly useful\u201d in thwarting Russia\u2019s initial drive to seize Kyiv and much of the country, he said, and then pushing Russian forces out of much of the territory it claimed in the<b> <\/b>early months of the war. Ukraine has used Western weapons such as High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, precision rockets and Javelin anti-tank weapons to devastating effect against Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kendall said the West prioritized sending Ukraine those weapons that would be most effective on the battlefield, before shifting focus to laying the groundwork for a future Ukrainian air force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said providing fighters such as F-16s \u201cis seen by some as an escalatory act on our part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speed was also a factor in deciding which weapons to concentrate on first providing to Ukraine, Kendall said. Getting significant quantities of fighters into Ukrainian hands would take months at best, he said, so instead the West looked for armaments that could be more quickly shipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kendall reiterated comments he and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ<b> <\/b>Brown made in July 2022 that eventually, Ukraine will have to move away from its current force of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker and MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters and toward Western-made jets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUkraine is going to remain an independent nation,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to need a full suite of military capabilities. And so it\u2019s time to start thinking longer-term about what that military might look like, and what it might include.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kendall said the U.S. and other partner nations will work with Ukraine to \u201cfigure out a path\u201d toward getting the jets \u2014 but it won\u2019t happen soon. He said it will likely take at least several months for Ukraine to receive them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many details also have yet to be sorted out, Kendall added , such as where the F-16s will come from, and where their pilots will train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re just starting our conversations about how we\u2019re going to move forward after the president\u2019s announcement,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of open possibilities [for training], including our partners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NBC News reported in March two Ukrainian pilots were at a military base in Tucson, Arizona, to help sort out how quickly the nation\u2019s fighter pilots could learn to fly advanced fighters such as F-16s. The Air National Guard\u2019s 162nd Wing in Tucson trains <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/03\/06\/preparing-for-russia-inside-nato-fighter-pilot-training-in-texas\/\" target=\"_blank\">pilots from international partner nations<\/a> to fly the F-16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Kendall was optimistic about Ukrainian pilots\u2019 abilities to learn to fly the F-16, saying it would take \u201cmonths, not years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey\u2019re very motivated,\u201d Kendall said. \u201cEverything we\u2019ve done with the Ukrainians, they\u2019ve shown a capacity to learn. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen more motivated individuals, in terms of wanting to get into the fight and make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cUkraine [will] remain an independent nation,\u201d SECAF Kendall said. &#8220;It\u2019s time to start thinking longer-term about what [its] military might look 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