The F-16 fighter jets, which Ukraine has started receiving from its allies, yield to Russian military aircraft in terms of combat capabilities, retired US Army General Gordon Davis told Business Insider.
The F-16s have "some issues with range and vulnerability" and "even the best systems we can put on those aircraft will still not make them superior to some of the best Russian aircraft," Davis said.
He recalled that Russia has "several hundred some pretty advanced" warplanes, including the Su-35S supermaneuverable air superiority fighter, the Su-30SM multirole jet and the MiG-31 supersonic interceptor plane.
"The bottom line is you can give the F-16s the maximum capability for munitions and electronic warfare capabilities, they're still going to be somewhat vulnerable to grounded defense, and some of the most advanced fighters from Russia. […] That's an issue, and that will remain an issue," the general pointed out.
In late August, the Ukrainian air force confirmed that a US-made F-16 jet, which was transferred to Ukraine by its Western partners, crashed just weeks after the first batch of such aircraft was delivered to Kiev.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized that the F-16s "have long been the main means of delivery in the framework of the so-called NATO joint nuclear missions," so Moscow considers the supply of these systems to the Kiev regime as a "deliberate signal action by NATO in the nuclear sphere." He added that the presence of these jets in Ukraine would not change the situation on the battlefield, as they would be destroyed like other types of weapons.