Ukraine's F‑16s need advanced weaponry for ground strikes
General Ihor Romanenko, a former deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, believes that the defending army is not fully utilising F-16 fighters. He attributes this to the indecisiveness of the West regarding the supply of appropriate armaments, rather than the technical condition or capabilities of the aircraft themselves.
The Ukrainian officer stated that the F-16 fighters currently delivered to his country can only perform air defence tasks and are executing these duties very well. However, to counter Russian aggression more effectively, Romanenko argues that weapons capable of striking ground targets are also necessary.
Ukrainian F-16s need more powerful armaments
"The general emphasized the importance of equipping F-16s with more advanced missiles, such as JASSM, which would enable effective operations not only in the air but also against ground targets," TSN reported. "This is extremely important for us. We need not only the aircraft but also more powerful aviation weaponry," said Romanenko.
JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) are missiles produced by the American company Lockheed Martin. F-16s equipped with AGM-158 JASSM, for example, are used by several nations. These are subsonic missiles that can reach a speed of approximately Mach 0.8 to 0.9. At the same time, they are built with stealth technology. Older versions allow for strikes at a range of up to approximately 230 miles, but in the newer JASSM-ER variants, this range has been increased to over 560 miles.
Previously, in the context of equipment shortages of Ukrainian F-16s, the Link-16 data transmission standard was also mentioned. It is widely used by NATO countries, which likely led to concerns that, in the event of losing an F-16, some of the West's sensitive technologies could potentially fall into Russian hands.
Ukrainian F-16s will receive enhancements
The US State Department has implemented decisions that will enhance the capabilities of F-16s. Although in a different capacity, this should still significantly impact their performance.
On 10 December, it was announced that there is approval for so-called Sustainment Services worth over 266 million US dollars (210 million pounds). This is a support package for servicing and necessary equipment, which will include, among other things, the JMPS (Joint Mission Planning System) and AN/PYQ-10 cryptographic modules.
The F-16 fighters themselves are also steadily reaching the front lines. On 7 December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the second batch of F-16s delivered by Denmark had arrived. The Scandinavian country has planned a total of three batches, which will collectively strengthen Ukrainian aviation with 19 fighters of this type.
