International partners are ready to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, but everything needs to be prepared for their effective use. This was stated by the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Yuriy Ihnat, during a telethon, UNN reports.
Our partners are ready to provide us with equipment (F-16 fighters - ed.) The question is whether everything is ready for it to work in Ukraine. That is why we often see different deadlines, different forecasts from different countries and different experts. It's clear that everything must be ready: pilots, infrastructure, engineers, and other factors that are less talked about
He noted that multipurpose aircraft are aviation complexes. Therefore, according to him, it is necessary to take a comprehensive approach to resolving their deployment in Ukraine, their adoption and combat use.
"Of course, we could consider various statements by European leaders that we are ready to hand over the planes. "Already handed over" means that we simply have them territorially... This is not the option that suits Ukraine. We need them to work and hit the occupier from the air, to cover the airspace, in particular, to push Russian aviation away from our borders and destroy the "chessmen"," Ihnat said.
Addendum
Western partners are to provide Ukraine with a number of F-16 aircraft. However, before they are used, they will need to be modernized to compete with the Russian air force.