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The troops of Russia tend to withdraw when the NATO hunters come across, said a Ukrainian F-16 pilot.
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He said that Ukraine uses his F-16s and mirages for coverage missions or in precise strike.
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His comments were part of the first video interview that Ukraine published with an F-16 pilot.
A Ukrainian F-16 pilot has said that the troops of Moscow seem to shy away from Western aircraft because they know how deadly the jets can be.
The Air Force of Ukraine released its comments on Wednesday as part of the very first video interview with an F-16 pilot. His face was obscured and the Air Force said it had held the name of the pilot and call sign for security purposes.
“With the arrival of Western equipment, the situation with performing hunters of hunters has improved,” said the pilot in Ukrainian. “We now have different weapons, more high -quality weapons. The Russians understand that too.”
He said that Ukraine had used his American F-16 Fighting Falcons and French Mirage 2000-5s in more meetings up close.
“From their actions we can see that they are starting to withdraw. They are afraid of approaching us,” he added. “After all, there is also a living person who doesn't want to die either.”
The pilot said Ukraine had used his F-16s for tactical strikes such as “a Scalpel”, while the Soviet MIG-29s, SU-24s and SU-27s were widely assigned to suppress and destroy goals such as “Hamers and front hammer.”
The Soviet aircraft of Ukraine are often sent to bomb Russian goals up close, the pilot said his comrades “dangerously close to the front line”.
So Ukraine sends F-16s and Mirages to offer coverage for their Soviet counterparts, he said.
That attack style has substantially changed the way in which Moscow's troops respond, added the pilot.
“They know about the technical characteristics of our weapons. They know where to go on, where they should withdraw,” he said, adding that Ukraine had tried to exploit those gaps.
The pilot also said that the F-16 and Mirage Ukraine offered the opportunity to perform “very, very precise” strikes.
“At the moment we can only strike at tactical depth,” he said about Ukrainian pilots assigned to NATO hunters. “But these attacks are extremely accurate.”
“If we want, our bomb can fly straight through someone's window,” he added.
The Russian Ministry of Defense did not respond to a comment request.
F-16 lead over the Soviet plane of Ukraine
The F-16 is an older design according to Western norms with more than 50 years of service but is still appreciated by Ukraine because of its ability to wear and launch a wide range of NATO-Price-led ammunition against both air and country goals.
These include the Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range, which has a reported range of 50 miles, and the AIM-120, a medium-range air launch rocket that achieves other aviation goals. Ukraine has both weapons.
This possibility means that the F-16 can be a versatile tool for combating other aircraft, performing land attacks or suppressing Russian air defenses.
Some of his Soviet aircraft, such as the MIG-29, are also multirole hunters, but the F-16 has better radar systems, electronic jammers and reach. In January, Ukraine said that one of the pilots destroyed a record of six Russian rockets in one sortie.
The Mirage van Dassault is another fighter plane sent to Ukraine, although it is generally limited to firing French ammunition. For example, it can launch the long-distance shadow cruise rocket, but must stay with the shorter mica-air-air rocket when dealing with air targets.
Kyiv has received F-16s from European allies since the summer of last year and received his first tranche from Mirages from France in February.
Ukraine has stalled the number of jets it received. Countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark have promised to deliver more than 100 F-16s to Ukraine, but the entire process can take months to years.
Yet Ukraine must be careful with his valuable Western jets. The Russian surface-air missile weather, such as the S-400, are formidable and it is known that Ukrainian pilots limit the flying height or the range to lower exposure to them.
Kyiv has already lost one F-16 when a top pilot crashed in August while fighting cruise rockets and drones near the capital.
Earlier this month, various Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels said that another F-16 was shot in the Sumy region. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zenskyy rejected the report when he spoke to journalists on 19 March.
“The Russians lie that they shot something there; they shot nothing,” he said.
Zenskyy has said that Ukraine needs 128 F-16s to fight Russia effectively.
The F-16 program of Ukraine was recently questioned when President Donald Trump paused military help to Kyiv in early March. The help was eventually resumed when Ukraine was in accordance with the American reverse conditions for a cease-fire.
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