File image.
The Russian military has reportedly shot down yet another American-made F-16 fighter jet of the Ukrainian Air Force (UAF).
In a statement released on April 12, the UAF mourned the F-16 pilot 26-year-old Pavlo Ivanov, but stopped short from acknowledging that the fighter jet was shot down by Russian fire.
“All the circumstances of the tragedy are being investigated by an interdepartmental commission, which has already begun its work,” the statement reads.
The statement went on to note that Ukrainian F-16 pilots often perform combat missions in “incredibly difficult” conditions.
President Volodymyr Zelensky offered his condolences to the family of the slain pilot. Later, Ukrainian media reported that the young pilot, who previously flew Soviet-made Su-25 close air support fighter jets, was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously.
While Ukrainian media largely described the aerial losses as a “crash,” the BBC, citing a Ukrainian military source, reported that the F-16 fell on April 11 after being hit by a Russian anti-aircraft missile.
“Russian forces launched a total of three missiles at the aircraft. It was either a guided surface-to-air missile from an S-400 system or an air-to-air R-37 missile,” the source said.
The unnamed source ruled out the possibility of friendly fire, stating that there were no Ukrainian air defense systems operating in the area where Ivanov was conducting his mission.
The S-400 and the R-37 – typically fired from MiG-31, Su-35 or Su-57 fighter jets – can engage aerial targets with a maximum range close to 400 kilometers. Both systems can reach hypersonic speed and are equipped with complex guidance systems, with on-board active radar seekers.
Ukraine received the first batch of F-16s just last July. Ten such fighter jets have so far been delivered to the country out of a total of 85 pledged by Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. At least three of the jets have been already confirmed to be destroyed.
Like many other weapons supplied to Ukraine by the West after the start of the Russian special military operation, the F-16 was touted by the mainstream media as a game changer. So far, the fighter jets have done nearly nothing of value for the UAF, which continues to rely on its aging Soviet-made fighter jets for most missions.
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congratulations , more metal for ukrainian scrap drive . more war debt and inflation for amerika .
the ukrainian f-16s are cast-offs from us mic stooges denmark and holland, who have been extorted by the americans to replace them f-35 flying coffins. they didn’t cost americans a dime.
yes they did. and they cost much more than any money. they cost us our industries.
lay off the jenkem. it’s not doing your any favours.
they were trained well by afghan pilots at the american air base in italy. i’m curious what all those afghan pilots and soldiers who were put in the american base in italy were doing before?
they can print infine money as long as the rest of the world trust their ponzi scheme. but the dedollarisation process begin and (((they))) don’t control china’s economic system. the chineses should start (((noticing))) to avoid beeing subverted.
may the earth’s father have him!
‘game changer’, bahahahaha.
was it _really_ worth pushing russias nuclear response to field these 40 year old shit birds?
the west constantly tries to change the game of go into a game of checkers.
akonáhle sa f16 objavia vo vzduchu, sú okamžite ruskými vojakmi lovené. takto to vnímam a zároveň konštatujem, že to je ozaj dobrá správa pre zvyšok sveta. svetu mier!!!
the kiev junta will never see the rest of those f-16’s, and if they do, they won’t be flown by ukrainian pilots. it will be nato robots losing their lives. such is the life of a corporate bitch.
our inferior game changers only impress morons in burgerland
little vlad poohtin just killed another diaper…heheheh
after 20 yrs taliban sodomy burgercunt expert on diapers
adesso è il momento dell’aviazione abbattere tutti gli f 16 e aeroporti mirate bene aquile.
“it is not russianism that will destroy the earth it is amerikuntism–not only have the english fallen prey to it but much of western europe has as it represents modernity in all of its monstrosity”. martin heidegger
“russian army just killed another ukrainian f-16”
usually the f-16 just kills itself with it’s subpar design. the most crashed “fighter jet” in modern history.
only morons would gloat and glee over the loss…. more importantly how and why are they even allowed to fly near russian borders ? what if they carried nuclear weapons. ding dong…
boring .repetitive dull .no one with any brains us going to keep reading this same old rubbish everyday for long
and here you are again today
but if they are being trained by afghan pilots at an american base in italy. the base in italy is full of afghan soldiers from the former regime who were transported to italy by biden and now have no home. then they eat candy and teach ukrainians…
20th century tech in a 21st century war. ukrainians might as well be flying ww1 biplanes.
f16 inferior—burgerland defeated by taliban that had no aerospace capability