A month ago Ukraine received its first batch of long-anticipated F-16 jets. Six aircraft previously flown by Denmark.
On August 26 they flew their first combat mission during a large aerial Russian strike combining cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and long-range drones.
The August 26 strike was according to the Ukrainians the largest of the war so far using 127 missiles and 109 drones targeting installations across the country.
At least some of the F-16s took to the air on interception duty trying to shoot down some of the cruise missiles and drones over Western Ukraine.
It later became known the mission one F-16 with pilot was lost.
The death of the pilot became known first (leading many to believe he may have been killed on the ground), but a day later the loss of the aircraft was made public as well.
According to an initial American report the loss occurred due to “pilot error” during the mission.
However, a Ukrainian MP disputed this version. She reported she had sources telling her the plane was lost in a friendly fire incident, brought down by a Patriot battery.
This caused the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force to launch into a vicious attack on her. He did not dispute her version, but claimed she was aiding the enemy.
Hours later the Air Force chief was fired by Zelensky. (Ie it seems he was fired for his attempt of a public lynching of the MP, rather than the loss of the F-16 pilot.)
The MP in question, Mariana Bezuhla, was originally elected as a member of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, but has recently broken from the government.
It is not uncommon for Ukrainians to lose aircraft, often on the ground and in Iskander strikes, when they bring them to forward airfields, and are discovered by Orlan surveillance drones. However the F-16s are so far, far behind the front in Western Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Air Force achieved a notable feat earlier this month when its MiGs destroyed three bridges over the Seim river in Russia’s Kursk, greatly complicating Russian logistics and securing Ukrainian left flank around Sudzha.
Ukraine is set to receive at least 65 F-16s from Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and Norway. The big bottleneck and limiting factor is pilot training. In this respect the lost pilot will be much more difficult to replace than the plane.
The Russian strike of August 26 was centered on disrupting Ukraine’s electric network. Russia launches a similar country-wide strike targeting mostly power distribution and generation, once or twice monthly.
The idea is to gather a larger number of missiles, and then fire them simultaneously, to make it more difficult for Ukrainian anti-air systems to intercept them.
When I met with Ukraine pilots Juice (left) and Moonfish (right) I had a sick feeling they wouldn’t make it through the war. Juice died in Aug 2023, Moonfish died on Monday. They fought like hell for Ukraine, and the F16. Nickel on the grass men. Slava Ukrainii pic.twitter.com/uErBmyQGBa
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) August 29, 2024
In this article I wrote about 3 Ukrainian pilots. All of them are dead now. Juice, then Beekeeper. And this Monday Moonfish. The price of protection Ukrainian sky is the lives of Ukrainian brave pilots 💔. R.I.P. Moonfish #Ukraine https://t.co/koJBWtkBsV
— Kristina Berdynskykh (@berdynskykh_k) August 29, 2024
A Ukrainian MiG-29 deploys GBU-62 JDAM-ER bombs against bridge crossings in the Kursk region.
🫡🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/xoESmNJ1iq— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) August 30, 2024
(Ukraine claims it used American JDAM glide bombs (range 30 km) against the bridges, in reality it likely used the longer-range French AASM Hammer cruise missile or similar weapon.)
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