• maporita@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      F16’s won’t give Ukraine much of an advantage until sufficient numbers of pilots are a trained. There are two weapons that could immediately change the battlefield landscape. GLSDB’s and ATACM’s are long range precision bombs that would allow Ukraine to target Russian supply lines and ammunition stores far behind the front lines, including into Crimea. They both have backup inertial guidance systems in order to mitigate GPS jamming… which is a big problem for their current guided munitions.

      • lemmyshmemmy@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        supply lines and ammunition stores

        And helis still on the pad. Much easier than trying to take them out with MANPADS teams or risking valuable AA systems near the front line.

    • Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      The problem with F-16’s is that when they’re inevitably shot down, the videos will be all over the net and it will look awful from a spend perspective.

      • darthfabulous42069@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        The article says Ukrainian troops are going to be trained to fly F-16s in August, so his take is more realistic than yours honestly

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          I love how people keep believing in these wunderwaffe. They can train them all they like, but these are obviously not going to make any significant difference.

        • ghost_laptop@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          There is absolutely no way in which a couple of airplanes will affect the war so drastically, furthermore it’s impossible for the US to provide Ukraine with enough of them since it takes so much to manufacture and they need to have a stockpile, meanwhile Russia could use airplanes that are older since Ukraine basically doesn’t have an air force and still get the upper hand.