Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets shoot down Russia's main Su-35S fighter for the first time...

The target information was provided by Sweden's SAAB airborne early warning aircraft... Reported by German Bild, Kyiv Post and others.

In the morning of July 7th, according to Ukraine's Air Force, a Ukraine Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down Russia's current main fighter Su-35S in the airspace over Kursk region in southwestern Russia, and released a video showing the wreckage of the shot-down Su-35S on fire.

Su-35S is Russia's main 4.5-generation fighter jet, which has been in practical deployment since 2014. It is equipped with excellent electronic warfare devices and powerful air-to-air missile capabilities, including radars that can detect up to 400 kilometers, making it the most deployed model in the Ukraine battlefield.

Although Russia's Air Force has the Su-57 fighter jet with official stealth capability, due to its extremely low production, only a small number have been deployed since the end of 2020.

American military professional media TWZ cautiously reported the fact of Su-35S being shot down, stating: "If true, the F-16 was initially designed to counter Soviet (Russian) fighters, which would be equivalent to fulfilling this task for more than 50 years." Ukraine Air Force announced in a Telegram channel: "Successful operational results in the Kursk direction." The F-16 was developed as a lightweight fighter to counter Soviet fighters and was first deployed in the U.S. Air Force in 1979.

This means that the Su-35S being shot down event itself has been confirmed. From videos released online, you can see the crash site, as well as videos taken by Ukrainian military helicopters involved in the pilot search and rescue operation. This is the 8th Su-35S lost by the Russian side since the February 2022 Russian offensive against Ukraine.

Interestingly, Ukraine's Air Force did not reveal the weapon used to shoot it down. It could be either manned fighter jets like F-16 or long-range surface-to-air missile systems operated by Ukraine's Air Force.

The American-provided Patriot surface-to-air system can strike enemy aircraft up to 160 kilometers away. Since May 2023, Ukraine's military has pushed the Patriot system close to the Russian border and shot down multiple Russian military aircraft over Russian territory.

According to the first reporting media, Germany's Bild, the Dutch-aided F-16 shot down the Su-35S, with Sweden's Saab 340 airborne early warning control aircraft (AEW&C) providing target information from 200-300 kilometers away, after which the F-16 launched an AIM-120 AMRAAM (Amram) air-to-air missile to bring it down.

Sweden had promised to provide Ukraine with 2 Saab 340 AEW&C aircraft, but there are no related reports about whether these aircraft actually arrived in Ukraine.

The 2 Saab 340 AEW&C aircraft are equipped with Saab's (formerly Ericsson) "Ericson Eye" AESA radar. The maximum target detection distance of this radar is approximately 450 kilometers and usually operates at an altitude of 6 kilometers.

The 340 AEW&C belongs to fighter control assets, responsible for detecting targets, setting priorities, and commanding interception fighters. In theory, the above information can be shared via NATO standard data link (Link-16) with F-16 and Western-aided ground air defense systems.

However, F-16 aircraft need to carry Link-16 data links to achieve this function. According to the Kyiv Post report, F-16s provided to non-NATO member Ukraine should not have carried Link-16. If the aforementioned functions can be used, it indicates that the F-16 fighters provided by the Netherlands may have undergone "unpublicized upgrades." AEW&C may guide the F-16 towards the target direction or provide "midcourse guidance" for missiles through Link-16.

TWZ reported: "If the F-16 shot down the Su-35S without AEW&C support, that would indeed be an amazing achievement, marking the first case of an aerial dogfight involving manned aircraft in Ukraine Air Force."

On the other hand, Ukraine has so far lost 3 F-16 fighter jets. It is unclear how many were shot down by enemy attacks.

According to Ukraine's Air Force, the latest incident occurred in May when a pilot "hit 3 aerial targets (drones and missiles), and encountered an emergency situation while firing the cannon at the 4th target." It is understood that the pilot successfully escaped after guiding the fighter's nose away from civilian residential areas.

In August 2024, an F-16 fighter jet was shot down after intercepting 3 cruise missiles and 1 suicide drone during a large-scale Russian air raid.

So far, Ukraine has received or plans to receive about 85 F-16 fighter jets that can be put into combat operations. Donor countries include 24 from the Netherlands, 19 from Denmark, 12 from Norway (including 10 parts), and 30 from Belgium, etc.

Some of these aircraft are only for training purposes and are used at the "European F-16 Training Center (EFTC)" in Romania to train Ukrainian pilots. Recently, the United States has been dismantling spare parts from non-flyable F-16s to aid Ukraine.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1834644985812105/

Disclaimer: The article represents the views of the author alone.