One of the F-16s helping Ukraine fight Russia has crashed. Here’s what to know about their role

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One of the F-16s helping Ukraine fight Russia has crashed. Here’s what to know about their role

2024-08-30 22:33 Last Updated At：22:51

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine has received from its Western partners to help fight Russia’s invasion — one of which crashed this week while countering a Russian barrage — have been the front-line combat planes of choice for the NATO alliance for 50 years.

At least six of the warplanes are believed to have been delivered to Ukraine from European countries, and one of them crashed Monday, the Ukrainian military said, in the first reported loss of one of the planes. U.S. experts have joined a Ukrainian investigation into why it went down, military officials said Friday.

The F-16s enhance Ukraine’s military strength, especially by upgrading its air defenses and enabling it to hit distant targets with sophisticated NATO weaponry, if Western suppliers give permission for that. Analysts say the F-16s won’t turn the tide of the war on their own.

The U.S. won’t be providing any of its own F-16s. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with more than 60 of them over coming months in what could be a slow trickle of deliveries.

Here’s what to know:

The F-16s will likely have three core missions, says Federico Borsari of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.

They will seek to intercept Russian missiles and drones that have relentlessly bombarded Ukraine; suppress enemy air defense systems; and strike Russian troop positions and ammunition depots with air-to-ground missiles.

“They will be able to affect some of the dynamics (of the war),” Borsari says.

A lot of information about the F-16 deployment is classified, including what Western governments allow them to hit and what weapons they will send with the aircraft.

The F-16s could carry United Kingdom-supplied Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 250 kilometers (155 miles), potentially striking targets inside Russia. They might also get long-range air-to-air missiles that would threaten Russian bombers and fighter jets. The plane’s advanced radars will allow Ukrainian pilots to pinpoint targets further away than they can in their MiG-29s, Su-27s and Su-24s.

Commanding the skies is an essential part of a war’s ground campaign, as planes offer air cover to troops. But supporting Ukrainian troop movements on the front line with ground attacks may be too risky for the F-16s, given Russia’s sophisticated air defense systems.

At the very least, the fighter jets could have a psychological effect on Russian pilots, and offer a morale boost for Ukrainians toiling against the Kremlin’s forces.

Marina Miron of the Defense Studies Department at King’s College London ticks off a long list of challenges the F-16s bring for Ukraine.

The roughly nine-month training in the U.S. and Europe for Ukrainian pilots amounted to a crash course compared with the usual three-year course for Western pilots in what Miron calls “a very complex piece of machinery.” That will mean limitations on their performance.

The F-16s also require a large number of support personnel, such as skilled maintenance engineers, munitions loaders, intelligence analysts and emergency crews.

Ukraine must also establish a network of radar stations, reinforced hangars, a supply of spare parts and refueling systems. Quality airfields are also a must as the F-16 air intake is close to the tarmac and runs the danger of sucking debris and dirt into the engine.

“So many associated issues need to be sorted out,” Miron says.

Ukrainian pilots with no combat experience in F-16s may shy away from engaging in dogfights.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian authorities have offered rewards to servicemen who destroy F-16s, which would have propaganda value for the Kremlin.

The Ukrainian F-16s are up against Russia’s formidable S-300 and S-400 mobile surface-to-air missile systems that can target multiple aircraft at a time. Russia’s military also has what are estimated to be several hundred operational fighter jets, as well as sophisticated air surveillance radars.

Russia’s Su-35 fighter jet is one of the biggest threats to the F-16, Borsari of CEPA says. It has a long-range radar that allows it to track and engage up to eight targets at a time across a wide area.

The Kremlin’s forces may also try to destroy the F-16s on the ground with long-range missiles. They have already targeted Ukraine’s limited number of suitable airfields.

The Ukrainians need to park the F-16s in hardened hangars, disperse them between various locations, station decoy model aircraft and be ready to take off quickly in the event of an air raid warning, analysts say.

Although Russian forces will try to strike the F-16s at the airbases where they are kept, Ukraine has robust defenses to protect the fighter jets against such attacks, says Ukrainian aviation expert Anatolii Khrapchynskyi.

Ukraine has capabilities “to protect its airfields with anti-aircraft defenses to deflect (Russian) attacks," Khrapchynskyi told The Associated Press. "During the entire time since Russia has invaded Ukraine, it has been actively trying to hit Ukrainian airfields, but they have been somewhat unsuccessful.”

Khrapchynskyi said the F-16s will significantly increase the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force to protect the country’s air space from Russian attacks and increase the range that Ukraine can strike strategic targets in Russia.

“With the acquisition of F-16 aircraft, we will be able to solve a number of problems that are currently hurting Ukraine. These include: Russia's massive missile attacks, its use of guided aerial bombs, and the deployment of S-300 installations in the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv," says Khrapchynskyi.

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Lightning could worsen wildfire east of LA already threatening 35,000 homes and buildings

2024-09-09 11:45 Last Updated At：11:50

HIGHLAND, Calif. (AP) — An out-of-control wildfire in the foothills of a national forest east of Los Angeles threatened ten of thousands of buildings and forced hundreds of residents to flee Sunday amid a days-long heat wave of triple-digit temperatures.

The so-called Line Fire was burning along the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. As of Sunday morning, the blaze had charred about 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) of grass and chaparral, leaving a thick cloud of dark smoke blanketing the area.

The fire burned so hot Saturday that it created its own thunderstorm-like weather systems of pyroculumus clouds, which could bring more challenging conditions such as gusty winds and lightning strikes, according to the National Weather Service. Firefighters also faced steep terrain, which limited their ability to control the blaze, officials said. The fire remained uncontained Sunday afternoon.

County officials, who declared an emergency Saturday evening, issued evacuation orders for Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake, areas east of Highway 330 and other regions.

Running Springs resident Steven Michael King said he had planned to stay to fight the fire and help his neighbors until Sunday morning, when the fire escalated. He had prepped his house to prevent fire damage but decided to leave out of fear smoke could keep him from finding a way out later.

"It came down to, which is worse, being trapped or being in a shelter?” he said outside an evacuation center Sunday. “When conditions changed, I had to make a quick decision, just a couple of packs and it all fits in a shopping cart.”

Joseph Escobedo said his family has lived in Angelus Oaks for about three years and has never had to evacuate for wildfire. His family, with three young children, was among the remaining few who haven’t left the area as of Sunday afternoon.

“It’s kind of frightening with the possibility of losing your home and losing everything we worked really hard for,” Escobedo said as his family packed up the essentials to leave. ”It’s hard to leave and not be sure if you’re gonna be able to come back.”

Arrowbear Lake resident Michael Lee said he left his home with his dog Saturday afternoon. Lee, a photographer, had turned back to retrieve a camera and didn't get to the evacuation center in Highland until nearly seven hours later.

“I wanna get back to home,” Lee said sitting in his car outside the evacuation center. “The triple-digit weather down here is nasty.”

State firefighters said three firefighters had been injured and more than 35,000 structures were threatened, including single and multi-family homes and commercial buildings. Thunderstorms expected later in the day could make it even more challenging to rein in the fire.

“Afternoon thunderstorms could cause new ignitions and potentially influence activity around the fire perimeter,” state firefighters said in a Sunday morning update. “Hot and dry conditions mixed with thunderstorms are expected to challenge firefighters for the next few days.”

The affected area is near small mountain towns in the San Bernardino National Forest where Southern California residents ski in the winter and mountain bike in the summer. Running Springs is on the route to the popular ski resort town of Big Bear.

Joe Franco, a worker at Noah's Restaurant in the downtown section of San Bernardino, said his friends in the surrounding evacuation zones were gearing up to leave at a moment’s notice. Smoke from the fire had already blanketed downtown San Bernardino, Franco said.

“They’re just kind of hanging on tight and getting their stuff ready to move,” Franco said of his friends. ”Normally they're here, but a lot of people are not coming today."

The fire prompted Redlands Unified School District to cancel Monday classes for roughly 20,000 students.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for San Bernardino County Saturday night.

A small vegetation fire that started Sunday afternoon in Clearlake City, 110 miles (117 kilometers) north of San Francisco, was forcing roughly 4,000 people to evacuate and burning structures. Officials said at least 30 homes and commercial buildings were on fire. Firefighters said they were gaining ground against the blaze Sunday afternoon.

More firefighters were expected to arrive in San Bernadino County Sunday. State officials said vegetation is critically dry in the area and temperatures reached more than 100 degrees (39 degrees Celsius) on Saturday, with relative humidity ideal for the fire to spread. The blaze began Thursday evening, and the cause is under investigation.

More than 600 firefighters were battling the fire, supported by water-dropping helicopters that hovered over homes and hillsides, along with other aircraft, according to state firefighters. Cal Fire officials didn’t return calls on Sunday seeking more information about three injured firefighters.

The fire produced coiling clouds of dense smoke, and flames could be seen cresting hillside ridges.

No homes or other structures had been damaged or destroyed.

The National Weather Service said downtown Los Angeles hit a high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 Celsius) Friday, which marked the third time since 1877 that a temperature that high has been reached there.

One of the F-16s helping Ukraine fight Russia has crashed. Here’s what to know about their role

News

One of the F-16s helping Ukraine fight Russia has crashed. Here’s what to know about their role

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