The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
A Ukrainian pilot told how and why F-16s have become not just a new type of aircraft but a strategic tool in protecting Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure facilities.
His story was published by the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“I would like to emphasize that F-16s already have over a thousand destroyed aerial targets in terms of effectiveness — such as Shahed-type attack drones, jet drones, and cruise missiles. We have also already delivered more than 1,600 strikes against ground targets. That is, an enormous amount of work has been done”, — the pilot said.
According to him, partners see how Ukrainians, under limited conditions, are able to conduct flights with such effectiveness.
“And they even, I would say, learn from us — learn tactics and adjust the tactics they taught us when we were abroad”, — he noted.
Once, he and his comrades were carrying out a combat mission in the Donbas area. The enemy tried to scare them off.
“They concentrated their forces opposing us in the air as well as on the ground — surface-to-air missile systems. But the main factor for us was the air component, which did not allow us to approach the target. We worked as a trio.
We drew two missiles from the enemy because there were two launches from different directions, and we gave our strike aircraft the opportunity to destroy the target. And the entire group safely returned to the airfield, to our families, to our squadron”, — the pilot recalled.
He noted that almost every sortie does not pass without the enemy launching missiles at their group.
“We understand that the guys are sitting in the trenches, it is hard for them there, and they need our help, and aviation must support them. We have cases when a pilot destroyed six cruise missiles in one sortie, and up to seven attack drones”, — the pilot emphasized.
