According to Russian media reports, on July 1, the Russian army used three Iskander ballistic missiles with cluster warheads to attack Poltavamirgorod, 6 Su-27 fighters parked at the airport were destroyed, 16 Ukrainian troops, including F16 pilots, were eliminated, and the Russian unmanned reconnaissance aircraft filmed the entire attack process!
According to the Ukrainian Independent News Agency, the former spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ihnat, has confirmed that the Ukrainian Air Force has suffered significant losses!
The Russian army's reconnaissance and strike system showed its might, and the entire process of the Russian army's missile destruction of the Ukrainian airfield was broadcast live.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Russian army's gliding guided bombs have destroyed a large number of strong fortifications of the Ukrainian army, allowing the previously impregnable Ukrainian fortresses to be controlled by the Russian army one after another.
In such a situation, the Ukrainian army hopes to curb the attack of the Russian army's gliding guided bombs by introducing F16 fighters, thereby reversing the entire battlefield situation.
But it is impossible for the Russian army to let such an attempt of the Ukrainian army succeed!
According to Russian media reports, on July 1, with the cooperation of reconnaissance drones, the Russian army launched three Iskander ballistic missiles with cluster warheads at Poltava Mirgorod Airport, destroying 6 Su-27 fighters of the Ukrainian army on the spot, and 16 Ukrainian troops, including pilots and ground crews, were killed.
From the video released by the Russian army, it can be seen very clearly that the Russian drone transmitted back in real time about the distribution of Su-27 fighters at Mirgorod Airport, as well as the location of the activities of the Ukrainian army's air crew and ground crew, and then the Russian army's Iskander missile arrived, and its cluster warhead threw a large number of bullets, and the tarmac where the Su-27 was located and the air crew activity area were fully covered, and the entire airport was in flames.
Under the continuous attack of the Russian Air Force and various missile units, there are few Ukrainian fighters left, and the 6 Su-27s destroyed this time may be the last bit of money that the Ukrainian army can still get its hands on, which can be described as a heavy loss for the Ukrainian army!
Especially those F16 fighter pilots who have just returned from training in Denmark and the ground staff who serve the F16, the loss of these valuable human resources will inevitably delay the time when the F16 of the Ukrainian army is officially put into operation.
The United States opposes the deployment of F16 fighters outside the territory of the Ukrainian army, and the Russian ballistic missiles may become the most powerful enemy of the Ukrainian F16 fighters!
So far, four European countries, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium, have pledged to provide Ukraine with about 100 F16 fighter jets. They will begin to be delivered to the Ukrainian Air Force one after another this summer.
On June 12, the Ukrainian Air Force told the media that some of the F16 fighters delivered to Ukraine would remain on the territory of foreign countries. But this statement of the Ukrainian army was quickly opposed by the United States.
On June 19, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told the media that according to the agreement signed between Ukraine and the United States, all warplanes transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force should be deployed on Ukrainian territory.
According to reports, the United States asked the Ukrainian army to deploy these F16 fighters at airfields within 500 kilometers of the line of contact in order to quickly respond to the attack of Russian fighters.
At present, the Ukrainian side is in a dilemma between preserving these valuable F16 fighters as much as possible and maximizing their combat capabilities.
If you want to evade the pursuit of the Russian Iskander missiles and Dagger hypersonic missiles, these F16 fighters of the Ukrainian army must stay away from the front line, and it is best to deploy them all to airfields in the Ussi region or abroad, but in this way, the effective combat time of these aircraft on the front line will be very short, and they will not be able to play their strongest combat effectiveness at all.
But if the Ukrainian army wants to play the maximum role of the F16 fighter, it must be deployed to a military airport relatively close to the line of contact, but in this way, these valuable fighters of the Ukrainian army will inevitably become the prey of the Russian Iskander missile, and many F16 fighters may be destroyed by the Russian missile on the runway of the airport before they have time to go to the battlefield.
Because the Ukrainian army on the front line urgently needs these F16 fighters to curb the attack of the Russian army's gliding guided bombs, and the US government has made it clear that the Ukrainian army will not allow the Ukrainian army to deploy F16 fighters to foreign territory, it is very likely that the Ukrainian army will deploy most of the F16 fighters to several forward airfields on the east bank of the Dnieper River to attack the Russian fighters bombing the Ukrainian defense line nearby, which creates an excellent opportunity for the attack of the Russian Iskander missiles.
The Russian Iskander ballistic missile, which flies at a speed of up to Mach 6, can reach its maximum range within 5 minutes, and can increase the area covered by fire by carrying a cluster warhead. Because modern fighters need a long preparation time before they take off into the air, as long as the Russian unmanned reconnaissance aircraft finds that the F16 has landed at a certain airport, the Russian missiles can arrive within 5 minutes at the earliest, thus destroying these aircraft.
In this sense, Russia's powerful air force may not have many opportunities to confront the F16, and the Russian Iskander ballistic missile may be the most powerful enemy of the Ukrainian F16 fighter.
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