F-16s to strengthen Ukraine's air defense, push back Russian bombers - Austrian colonel

This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by Markus Reisner, Austrian Army Colonel, superintendent at the Officer Training Institute, Theresian Military Academy.

"The active component of air defense, in my opinion, is the use of the Ukrainian Air Force. And here, of course, great hopes now rest on the possible delivery of the F-16, which will make it possible, with the use of appropriate air-to-air weapons, to actually change the range at which Russian warplanes are now dropping glide bombs, at a disadvantage for the Russians. This will force them to retreat even farther into their airspace due to the active air defense on the part of Ukraine, in this case through the use of fighter jets," he said.

In addition, the Austrian military expert pointed out that no single weapon system can become a game changer. "Similarly, the F-16 is not some kind of 'wunderwaffe' (miracle weapon). One must always consider the F-16 in conjunction with the already deployed air-to-air and air-to-surface capabilities, and all of that must be supported by relevant logistics. There should also be a number of airfields in Ukraine so that these F-16 jets can swap bases and not be immediately detected by the Russians," Reisner said.

At the same time, he emphasized that the supply of F-16 aircraft is an important contribution to the strategic protection of Ukraine's critical infrastructure and to the fight against Russian glide bombs.

"In other words, two things can be achieved here. The first is the protection of critical infrastructure, that is, reducing the number of Russian strategic air strikes inside Ukraine. And the other thing is also possibly pushing Russian combat aircraft deeper into Russia and, thus, reducing the use of Russian glide bombs. These are the two great hopes that rest on the use of F-16s," the Austrian colonel is convinced.

As reported, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said in a comment to Ukrinform that F-16 fighter jets pledged by the Netherlands would soon arrive in Ukraine.