Live Conflict Ukraine-Russia War

[Relic]

Germany , Belgium , Norway and Denmark collectively announced a new military aid package for Ukraine today valued $1.5 Billion usd. The package consists of the following...

- Skynex Air Defense Systems
- Gepard Air Defense Systems
- Undisclosed Main Battle Tanks
- Undisclosed Armored Vehichles
- Panzerhaubitze 2000 Howitzers
- Reconnaissance Drones
- RADAR Systems
- IRIS-T Missiles
- 155mm Artillery Shells

The package in it's entirely will be delivered before the end of 2024.

Germany’s Scholz offers €1.4B in fresh military aid for Ukraine during Zelenskyy visit

The Ukrainian leader visited Berlin to present his peace plan to the German chancellor.

www.politico.eu

 

[Spitfire9]

Training is a problem. To be useful to Ukraine, however, do pilots need to be trained fully in every aspect of NATO-style use of the F-16? Keeping pilots chasing cruise missiles and glide bombs well away from Russian air defence threats, for example, would be very useful. Again, low risk stand off attacks using glide bombs and missiles would also be useful. Using the F-16's for anything the MiG-29's ,Su-24's would otherwise need to do would help. And while the F-16's are engaged on those tasks, their pilots are building hours and experience.

 

[SilverMachine]

Do Ukrainian pilots need to be trained in every aspect of flying an F-16 in combat if they don't want to die real quick when coming up against Russians in equal-to-or-better planes and in higher numbers, with much more ground-to-air stuff backing them up?

Err, probably. It'd help.

That's generally a many-many-months to honestly probably-a-couple-years proposition, too. If they had a half-dozen qualified guys when two of the three top pilots were killed a couple months back, that figure's not going to be all that much higher now or into the near future.

 

[Spitfire9]

Do Ukrainian pilots need to be trained in every aspect of flying an F-16 in combat if they don't want to die real quick when coming up against Russians in equal-to-or-better planes and in higher numbers, with much more ground-to-air stuff backing them up?

Err, probably. It'd help.

That's generally a many-many-months to honestly probably-a-couple-years proposition, too. If they had a half-dozen qualified guys when two of the three top pilots were killed a couple months back, that figure's not going to be all that much higher now or into the near future.

Agreed, pilots should spend a long time training on F-16. Ukraine cannot do that, I think. It does not have the time. That is why I suggest using F-16 in lower risk areas to do lower risk jobs. Chasing cruise missiles well away from the front line seems a task they could do. When engaged by fighters, cruise missiles don't try to shoot fighters down.

 

[Soldier30]

Russian servicemen shared their experience of using homemade robotic platforms in battles. Robotic platforms were used in battles in Ukraine and in Ugledar, robot models are not reported, transport models are shown.

 

[SilverMachine]

Isn't that pretty much the lion's share of what they're being used for anyway though, downing Russian projectiles? Obviously that's not the same thing as air-to-air combat in the manned sense, but you're still going to have to train sufficiently and master (or close-to master) all the plane's systems, which are apparently pretty starkly different to what Ukrainians are used to with their ex-Soviet stuff.

Like, yeah, they said around a half-dozen Ukes completed the F-16 training, just a month or two back. The quiet part seeming to be indicating that quite a lot of the guys being trained failed the competencies, I doubt Ukraine just sent like 10 guys to Europe & the U.S. to learn.

It's probably going to be a very uphill battle in the sense of getting pilots. Unless we're going to recklessly take the gloves off and put it in legal writing that no ex-western F-16 pilots are going to face any repercussions should they want to sign up for the Ukrainian air force. And that's probably not happening, and probably shouldn't happen either.