I was kinda hoping this news wouldn't get out until after the Russian Air Force suffered a sudden and surprising day of absolutely devastating losses.

[–] TheMightyCanuck 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

News of their arrival will only force Russia to up its AA network.

Makes sense to announce this and spend a few days hunting down some more radars and s300 systems before putting these in the sky.

Not to mention F16 will be an absolute beast in a 'wild weasle' roll

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They are most probably already used to shoot down rockets and gliding bombs. They won't be pulled anywhere near the border until every enemy's anti-air facility in the vicinity is thoroughly destroyed.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Yep. They have crummy range without refueling. Nobody's talking about Gripens anymore for some reason, but those have the advantage they could hide on the ground near the front.

The sappers are the one non-incompetent part of the Russian army. Without some kind of offensive airpower it's a WWI-style deadlock and no breakthroughs seem possible.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

I think it will be a slow rollout. Justin Bronk did a good interview that helps to set expectations. Times Radio Interview

The basic summary is that the introduction of F-16 is helpful, but not game changing.