https://sputnikglobe.com/20240830/friendly-fire-or-defective-old-plane-how-ukraine-lost-its-first-f-16-jet-and-famed-pilot-1119960334.html
Friendly Fire or Defective Old Plane? How Ukraine Lost Its First F-16 Jet and Famed Pilot
Friendly Fire or Defective Old Plane? How Ukraine Lost Its First F-16 Jet and Famed Pilot
Sputnik International
One of the first Ukrainian F-16 jets crashed on August 26, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed on Thursday.
2024-08-30T12:51+0000
2024-08-30T12:51+0000
2024-08-31T09:05+0000
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Ukrainian MP Maryana Bezuglaya claimed the F-16 was hit by Ukraine's Patriot anti-aircraft missile system "due to a lack of coordination between units." When Were the First F-16s Delivered to Ukraine? How Much Does the F-16 Cost? What's Known About the Crash? What Do Ukrainian General Staff and the Pentagon Say?
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240829/ukrainian-general-staff-says-in-statement-that-f-16-fighter-transferred-to-ukraine-crashed-1119952322.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240801/the-only-answer-is-to-destroy-them-how-russia-plans-to-handle-ukraines-western-supplied-f-16s-1119595320.html
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ukraine lost its first f-16, ukraine's famed pilot mes died in aircraft crash, f-16 fighters delivered to ukraine, insufficient training of ukrainian pilots, ukraine air force, ukraine's patriot downed f-16 in a friendly fire accident
ukraine lost its first f-16, ukraine's famed pilot mes died in aircraft crash, f-16 fighters delivered to ukraine, insufficient training of ukrainian pilots, ukraine air force, ukraine's patriot downed f-16 in a friendly fire accident
Friendly Fire or Defective Old Plane? How Ukraine Lost Its First F-16 Jet and Famed Pilot
12:51 GMT 30.08.2024 (Updated: 09:05 GMT 31.08.2024) One of the first Ukrainian F-16 jets crashed on August 26, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed on Thursday.
Ukrainian MP Maryana Bezuglaya claimed the F-16 was hit by Ukraine's Patriot anti-aircraft missile system "due to a lack of coordination between units."
When Were the First F-16s Delivered to Ukraine?
The
first batch of six of the promised 80 F-16s arrived in Ukraine at the beginning of August.
It's unclear who exactly provided the first batch: Belgium, Denmark, the
Netherlands and Norway earlier vowed to provide the Kiev regime with them.
US President Joe Biden first authorized NATO's European allies to send F-16s to Ukraine in August 2023.
How Much Does the F-16 Cost?
The US-made F-16 that was delivered to Ukraine can cost up to
$60 million depending on the configuration and possible upgrades, according to some estimates.
As per the Wall Street Journal, many of the F-16s promised to Ukraine are
second-hand and have decades of flying time already.
29 August 2024, 18:26 GMT
What's Known About the Crash?
According to US officials, the jet
wasn't shot down by the Russian military. Sources close to the Ukrainian military claim the crash's reason is "unknown."
The plane was piloted by
Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes, one of Kiev's first pilots to be trained on the US-made F-16. He
died during the crash. Mes had undergone months of training in Denmark, as per Forbes.
US officials, cited by the WSJ, said Ukrainian pilots got an "accelerated training course" to learn to operate the F-16s and lacked flying hours.
What Do Ukrainian General Staff and the Pentagon Say?
The Pentagon said it cannot confirm the F-16 was downed by the Patriot system.
The Ukrainian general staff stated that
"a special commission... has been appointed to determine the causes of the crash."
