The recent official presentation of the F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter-bombers by the Ukrainian Air Force revealed several relevant aspects. The ceremony, presided over by President Volodymyr Zelensky, and subsequent social media posts, uncovered details about the armament and models of the F-16s that make up the first batch of Ukrainian Fighting Falcons.
The first confirmed detail from the viralized images yesterday is that the first batch of F-16 Fighting Falcons for the Ukrainian Air Force comes from Denmark. The Danish F-16AM/BM aircraft have specific features that distinguish them from Norwegian and Dutch Fighting Falcons. One of these differences is that the Danish F-16s lack the rear fairing that houses the braking parachute, and they also have an interception light positioned on the port side, behind the radar radome.
Another detail to note is the Terma pylons. In the photos and sequences, the ECIPS+ variant (Electronic Combat Integrated Pylon System with Missile Warning System) can be distinguished, a model that, along with the PIDS+ (Pylon Integrated Dispenser System with Missile Warning System), is characteristic of Danish F-16AM/BM. Similar equipment is expected to arrive with the F-16AM/BM acquired by the Argentine Air Force.
Regarding the armament, only air-to-air configured F-16s have been presented so far, equipped with short-range AIM-9L/M Sidewinder missiles and medium-range AIM-120B AMRAAM missiles. This configuration leads to speculation that the Ukrainian Air Force’s Fighting Falcons are currently performing air defense operations.
It is worth remembering that a few weeks ago, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans confirmed that the F-16 Fighting Falcons to be delivered to Ukraine would not be able to use all their capabilities against Russian forces because their pilots lacked the experience to execute certain missions. “…The F-16s sent by the Netherlands to Ukraine will not be used for now to support ground troops…The pilots do not yet have sufficient experience for this…”. With his statements, Brekelmans possibly revealed the priority established for training Ukrainian pilots, and it may take some time before the new fighter-bombers can be used for close air support.
During the ceremony, the presence of two F-16s in the background was also noted, aircraft that by their characteristics correspond to the ADF (Air Defense Fighter) variant. This is a conversion driven by the US Air Force to optimize the F-16 Block 15 for air defense operations. The aircraft would be destined for the Air National Guard to protect the continental US territory.
It has been speculated that the presence of these F-16 ADFs, identifiable by their four front IFF antennas, could be because they are cells for training technical personnel. However, some recent reports indicated that it is equipment provided by an ally so that the Ukrainian Air Force can have a significant number of decoys.
This last point is not a minor detail, as the Russian Armed Forces have recently carried out a campaign against several Ukrainian military airfields, managing to destroy and damage some Su-27, Su-24, Su-25, and helicopters. To try to confuse Russian surveillance drones, local volunteer organizations have started building F-16 decoys, as they previously did with cannons, radars, and other high-value systems.
Image Credit: UAF
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