Key Points:

• The F-16 is highly versatile, making it valuable for Ukraine despite being a 50-year-old aircraft.
• Its wide availability and flexibility in fitting different munitions make it an ideal choice for Ukraine.
• Donor countries are more willing to provide F-16s as they transition to newer models like the F-35.
• Also: Smart money is placing bets for 2025’s best investment, and “the next Nvidia” is a frontrunner. Click here to learn more now.

Austin and Michael discuss the significance of the F-16s for Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia. Michael explains that despite being a 50-year-old aircraft, the F-16 remains versatile, reliable, and crucial for Ukraine due to its adaptability and the availability of parts and units. The F-16s can perform multiple roles, including air-to-air and air-to-surface missions, making them valuable in Ukraine’s resourceful approach to the conflict. Additionally, the availability of F-16s from donor countries transitioning to newer models like the F-35, and the aircraft’s role in Ukraine’s potential future NATO membership, further underscore its importance. The discussion also highlights the economic aspect, noting that F-16s are a cost-effective option compared to newer jets like the F-35.

Watch the Video

Edited Video Transcript:

Context, I wanted to shift a little bit back to our bread and butter topic, which is, you know, we spend a lot of time talking about geopolitics in Ukraine.

And one of the really interesting, I’ll say interesting and meaningful narratives that’s going on in Ukraine is the role that F-16s play.

Everyone seems to understand that they’re significant, but maybe doesn’t understand the nuances of what they mean for the country or how controversial they are.

So let’s look at that first angle.

What do F-16s mean for Ukraine and why are we hearing so much about them?

Yeah.

So pretty much from the outset of the conflict, Ukraine has asked and pleaded and lobbied hard for delivery of F-16s.

So why the F-16, I think, is a reasonable question to ask.

Well, there are several reasons.

Number one, they have a long and proven service record.

When I say, a fifty-year-old jet, you probably imagine propellers, something out of World War II, but I’m sorry to tell our audience that fifty years ago is the early nineteen seventies, and the first test flight of the F-16 took place fifty years ago.

So it is a fifty-year-old jet, but it has been fitted with several upgrades.

It is extremely versatile, very maneuverable.

I’ve read it described as something of a Swiss Army knife of combat aircraft in the sense that it can be fitted with lots of different munitions.

It can fulfill a lot of different roles.

So it can do air-to-air missions.

So that can be defensive in the sense that it can intercept any munitions or it can engage enemy aircraft.

It can also do air-to-surface.

So it can support land forces effectively.

And it can strike ground assets as well.

The F-16s that Ukraine have and are getting have been fitted with a midlife upgrade, which took place in the nineteen nineties, which means that they do have jamming capability so they can disrupt communications.

And a very interesting discussion that is going on right now is the latest American aid package to Ukraine.

Is the possibility of sending long-range munitions that can be used by the F-16, so JASMs, that is Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, which is essentially a cruise missile that is fitted to the wings of the F-16.

An F-16 can carry two of those.

The operational range of a JASM is about three hundred miles, which means, theoretically, and we’ll get into why this is very controversial, Moscow is in striking range if they have those.

Right.

And I was actually just going to say, you know, that when we compare the JASMs to the ATAKMs, I believe, you know, that really is such an important distinction, which we’ll get to later.

But let me, let me maybe just distill down what I heard there and let me know if I got this right.

The F-16 is a dated aircraft in terms of service life, but not dated in terms of optionality, in terms of flexibility and its utility.

And that’s so important for Ukraine.

And if I may reflect on the first three years of this conflict between Russia and Ukraine,

One of the things that seems pretty irrefutable is how incredibly resourceful the Ukrainians have been in this conflict.

So it is probably the case that a dated aircraft with greater flexibility and utility is going to be more useful to the Ukrainians who have been extremely creative in how they’ve used all their resources compared to something that might be more purpose-built or more specific.

I know F-22s are not on the table, but just as an example, that is probably a less a Swiss Army knife aircraft anymore purpose-built single purpose aircraft than the F-16.

So even though the F-16 is fifty years old, it can still be extremely important because of how flexible it is, how proven the platform is.

And that is a huge advantage to the Ukrainians who themselves have been extremely adaptable and flexible in this conflict.

Let’s look ahead a little bit.

Sorry, there was just a couple of other points I wanted to make because you really draw on something really important there.

The other aspect of the F-16, which makes there’s a couple of other aspects I just want to very quickly mention.

There’s just a lot of them.

So there are a lot that can be donated.

I believe over four thousand have been built.

I’m not saying four thousand are going to show up, but I’m just saying that there’s a lot more available than there would be for other models, which means there’s a lot more parts available.

So as well as the main donor countries, which are Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium, Greece have decommissioned F-16s.

Which at the time, the most recent story I’ve seen related to this is they are in the process of shipping them to the United States.

They’re going to be refitted, upgraded, and then in turn donated to Ukraine.

So a lot more available.

Secondly, the donor countries that are going to provide these F-16s, they are in the process of upgrading their air wings.

So they’re not going to be using the F-16 anymore.

They’re going to be switching over to the F-35 Lightning II.

So that just means that they’re going to be more willing to donate them because, you know, Ukraine is going to be realistic.

They’re not going to give up their most recent hardware.

So its availability is another aspect of it that’s really important.

And one final point, as Ukraine aspires to NATO membership, you know, they are divesting from their kind of old Soviet-era arsenal towards Western weapons.

And the F-16 could serve an important point in that.

So they’re also looking ahead a little bit.

And just to further the point, I imagine economics play a role here, right?

You can buy two and a half or nearly three F-16 for the price of an F-35 as well.

So just a lot of reasons why the F-16 really does appear to be kind of the perfect aircraft for Ukraine’s current situation and what their needs are.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.