For the first time in history, an F-16 fighter jet destroyed 6 cruise missiles at once
Kyiv • UNN
For the first time in history, an F-16 pilot destroyed 6 cruise missiles in one flight during an attack in December 2024. Four of the missiles were shot down by air-to-air missiles, and two by an aircraft cannon.
A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot managed to destroy 6 cruise missiles at once. This is the first time in history that so many missiles have been destroyed in one F-16 flight. This was reported on Facebook by Yuriy Ihnat, head of the Communications Department of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to UNN with reference to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Details
It is reported that this happened during a massive missile and drone attack in December 2024.
“For the first time in the history of the Fighting Falcon, an F-16 fighter jet destroys six enemy cruise missiles in one combat mission!” the post reads.
“The guidance navigator brings me to the enemy targets, a group of eight cruise missiles is on the course. I approach to the appropriate distance, see obstacles, which means that the missiles have their own electronic warfare - the so-called “personal electronic warfare”. The F-type sights are quite powerful, and if the target is already in the sights, even under the influence of EW, it will not escape from the onboard radar. I flew up to a convenient distance, reacquired the targets, launched the missiles in turn and... hit - both targets were destroyed!” the F-16 pilot shared with Yuriy Ihnat.
Yuriy Ihnat emphasized that the Ukrainian pilot had only four air-to-air missiles under the wings of the F-16: medium- and short-range. The longer-range missiles were the first to be used, and then the pilot had to get closer to about two miles to use the short-range missiles.
“I flew up to the second pair, captured the missiles, saw that they were also 'emanating Russian EW,' but it didn't help them much. The first launch hit the target, and the second one did too! There was no limit to my joy, because I saw all the hits on the enemy missiles with my own eyes! There was still some fuel left in the overhead tanks, and the combat work continues... The guidance navigator gives me the command to go to the duty area to let my brother-in-arms on the Su-27 work on targets,” the F-16 pilot also said.
The pilot, following a command from the control center, after completing a combat mission and reporting for duty, detected another enemy target moving toward the capital. With only a rapid-fire aircraft cannon in his arsenal, he decided to use it against a fast-moving missile traveling at high speed.
“I realized that there were few chances to hit a missile flying at 650 km+,” the pilot said, ”first, I had to find it in the sky, level it out and fire at a distance of no more than 500 meters. And flying closer is extremely dangerous - if a 450 kg warhead detonates, there is a great risk for the aircraft to at least fly into a cloud of debris.”
Ihnat noted that the pilot realized how dangerous his actions were and how he was risking his life, but he knew how to act in this situation because he had recently undergone retraining on an F-16 in the United States.
“Based on the results of objective control, we have one hundred percent confirmation of the fact that for the first time in history, an American F-16 fighter jet shoots down six cruise missiles in an anti-aircraft battle, two of them with an aircraft gun. And it was done by a Ukrainian!” Ihnat summarized.
