The F-16 Paradox: Useless in war, perversely useful after defeat

The first F-16 fighter aircraft have now been delivered to Ukraine. It is over two years since Kiev started asking for these planes made by arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin and about one year since the US crossed another red line by allowing European NATO clients (Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway) to give them to Ukraine.

Now, a politically imposed deadline has been met by handing over a small number of the planes, even while it is not clear if their prospective Ukrainian pilots are actually ready to fly them. According to a recent article in the British Telegraph, only six Ukrainian pilots have actually been trained by NATO instructors, and there seems to be little certainty as to the level of competence they have achieved. Their NATO-style training has been recklessly accelerated; a recipe for disaster that was applied also to the Ukrainian troops that were then ruthlessly sacrificed in Ukraine’s much hyped but catastrophic summer counter-offensive last year. This lack of proper preparation may have something to do with the fact that, according to anonymous sources, the freshly delivered F-16s have flown their first mission, but it has been restricted to an “air-defense” role, that is, been as cautious as you can get while still taking the plane off the ground.