Before their arrival, the Western warplanes had been held up by some as a potential war-winner that could turn the tide of the conflict in Kyiv’s favour.
“Often, we just don’t get the weapons systems at the time we need them – they come when they’re no longer relevant,” a Ukrainian high-ranking officer told the Politico news website.
“Every weapon has its own right time. F-16s were needed in 2023; they won’t be right for 2024.”
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How can F-16s engage without getting into Russian air defense range?
Mavericks air to ground has a 20km range. AMRAAM air to air is about 100km.
A Russian S-400 has 400km operational range. At the start of the war, a S-400 in south Belarus turned on its radar for a few minutes and shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 all the way in Kyiv, which then crashed into an apartment building and the Ukrainians proceeded to blame the Russians for targeting civilian structures.