Comments by "Nicholas Conder" (@nicholasconder4703) on "Jake Broe"
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I can explain the F-16s in one word, TRAINING!
My sister worked in an air force squadron, and she gave me a breakdown on how long it takes to train fighter pilots. It takes about 1 year to transition from one type of fighter to another, and half to a full year (at least) for operational flight training (i.e. air-to-air combat, ground support, evasion of missile defenses, etc.). Then you have to add extra time because of the language issues - pilots need to be able to instantly understand commands (plus read and instantly understand the electronic displays) and hit the right switches without hesitation or they're dead! Remember that NONE of the manuals or instructions for the F-16s are currently written in Ukrainian, so this too has to be done.
Then there is maintenance. Good maintenance crews take 2-5 years to train, way longer than the pilots. Then you have to accurately translate all the ordinance, avionics, ari frame, engine and flight manuals. This is a herculean task. The pilot's flight manual for the F-16A is 400+ pages long (I know, I looked it up online and read portions of the manual as a PDF). Then you need the hardened facilities so a Russian Iskandar with cluster rounds doesn't take them out.
One other likely reason for the delay in deployment is that for full effect Ukraine will need to activate at least 3-4 squadrons of F-16s almost simultaneously. This will give them enough fighters for flying standing air patrols, flying top cover AND launching ground attack SEAD missions to take out most of the remaining Russian air defenses. A mass of F-16s needs to be deployed all at once, not a few planes here and there. Using the latter option gives the Russians the ability to work out tactics to use against the F-16s. Flying 3-4 squadrons of F-16s for their first missions (especially if it is not announced right away) would give the Russians a nasty shock. It could deliver a lethal blow to their aviation, either through shooting down a large number of aircraft, by destroying the Russian pilot's morale, or both. Catching the Russians flat-footed and causing the Russian Air Force to have a "Donetsk Turkey Shoot" could cripple any chance Russia has to hold onto the territory they have stolen from Ukraine.
I understand your frustration, I want to see them deployed in large numbers as well. However, training the pilots and maintenance crews, establishing well defended and protected air bases with hardened aircraft hangars and maintenance facilities, developing the logistical supply chains for keeping those planes in fuel (good NATO fuel, not the engine-destroying black-exhaust creating stuff used by Russia), ammo and spare parts takes TIME. And frustrating as it may be, we will have to wait patiently for the deployment of the F-16s. They are being delivered, and I trust Ukraine will decide wisely when to first use them.
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@paulmakinson1965 What you say is true, but it is nowhere as easy as one might think.
NATO countries can send all the heavy equipment you like, but you have to train the crews how to use them, then train the junior officers (lieutenants and captains) how to make the most out of this equipment. Then the mid-range officers (majors and lieutenant colonels) need to learn how to coordinate the various types of weaponry at the brigade level, and the senor officers (colonels and generals) need to learn how to maneuver all these units to have the greatest impact on the battlefield. You then have to remember that it is not enough to have the equipment - HIMARS or Abrams tank make great paperweights if you don't have the ammunition, fuel and spare parts for them (the Russian's lack of these is the reason why Ukraine's farmers are becoming one of the best equipped armies in the world). You also need to have people trained in how to repair this equipment. Then you need a sufficient number of trucks with fuel of their own to get all of these supplies to the front lines, plus the people to load and unload the trucks, and officers who can keep track of what shipment goes where by the most efficient means and route. Don't forget that you also need to ship food and small arms ammunition as well, plus replacement combat gear, rifles, etc. Ukraine's army has expanded probably 10-fold from its pre-invasion size. All those people need proper training if Ukraine is going to stand a chance against Russia.
Interestingly enough, not all the equipment that was listed as being sent to Ukraine has been seen in videos. I suspect that some has been held back to create an armored fighting force for major offensives. It will be up to the generals to decide when they think they have sufficient forces to launch said counter-attack, and where they will attack. Ideally, they will want to conceal any buildup of forces until the last couple of hours before any offensive starts to have tactical and strategic surprise over the Russians.
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@KimYoungUn69 The complaint about ATACMS is somewhat justified, although the US wanted its replacement available in case they needed to use them against China.
The complaint about F-16s is NOT justified, because it takes AT LEAST 6 months to a year for a trained combat pilot to transition from one aircraft type to another. And that is IF English is their first language. The fact that they Ukrainians will be receiving F-16s by December indicates they have been covertly training since last year. Don't forget that all the training manuals have to be translated (the flying manual for the F-16 is over 500 pages long - I looked it up online). Then the maintenance crews have to trained, and all their manuals (air frame, electronics, avionics, engine, weapons, etc.) have to accurately translated as well. This training then has to be sandwiched in amongst all your regular training and flight checks for your own pilots. All this has to be done properly and thoroughly, otherwise we would see the Ukrainian Air Force flying into the ground or losing aircraft due to poor maintenance on a more regular basis than the Russian Air Force is currently doing.
It is NOT an easy task, but this is (understandably) not well known or understood by people who have no contact with modern air forces. It is why, if you watch things carefully, you will see it has taken YEARS for the US Air Force to transition from F-16s, F-18s and other fighters to the F-35 once production got underway. Same problem minus the language issue.
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@linda9918 Yes, the technology was built because of Russia. In 1945-1947 the US Army "had decreased from eight million soldiers in 1945 to 684,000 on July 1, 1947" [Source: Wikipedia]. Meanwhile, Russia kept over 2 million men under arms, blockaded Berlin, etc. Russia, as the Soviet Union, became belligerent, and supplied North Korea with aircraft and tanks with crews to invade South Korea. They invaded Hungary in 1957, Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Poland in the 1980s when those countries tried to democratize. Russia continually threatened the West, sponsoring terrorist groups (Red Brigades and others) and trying to overthrow governments around the world. If you knew of a country that was determined to destroy your entire way of live and impose a dictatorial regime on your people, wouldn't you build technology to prevent them from doing it?
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