The main hypothesis points to a pilot error

Friendly fire, technical malfunction or fatal pilot error? These are the main theories surrounding the cause of the loss of the first F-16 fighter of the six that the United States has already sent to Ukraine, after Volodymyr Zelensky’s insistence on integrating these combat aircraft into his air force. The command of the Ukrainian army itself confirmed the destruction of the plane and the death of the pilot Oleksiy Mespseudonym Sunfish.

This is terrible news for Zelensky and his people, given the shortage of aircrew and combat-qualified F-16 pilots. The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that Last Monday, August 26, the incident occurredamid the largest Russian drone and missile attack since the start of the war, and before the fall of Mes, it shot down three cruise missiles and a one-way attack missile.

What remains unclear are the details of what happened, according to an unnamed U.S. official, quoted by The Wall Street Journal“Initial reports indicate that the fighter was not shot down by enemy fire” and The accident was “probably the result of pilot error.”.

Other hypotheses

Despite this information, there is still no official confirmation. As reported by the cnnThe Ukrainian Air Force has reportedly denied this hypothesis, to which are added other theories, such as those of a technical failure or even friendly fire from Ukrainian air defensesespecially a Patriot battery.

This happened the same week that Zelensky reported on the entry into service of the F-16. As the Ukrainian president himself confirmed, the American-made aircraft It has already been used to “shoot down some missiles and drones launched by Russia”.

He adds two qualities, electronic warfare and threat interception, pillars of the American fighter in the Ukrainian theater of operations, at least for now and until other units are delivered. Zelensky, for his part, insists on the need to urgently expand the fleet of this fighter model as one of the game-changers in the war that has been raging with Russia since February 2022.

Ukrainian F-16

“The F-16 Fighting Falcon (also known as the Viper) is a significant improvement over the Soviet-era fighters currently being flown by the Ukrainians,” Thompson continued. This fighter model is manufactured by American company Lockheed Martin and began its journey in the 1970s as one of the most important and advanced fourth generation platforms of the moment.

The good performance of the aircraft and the export success it achieved almost from the first moment allowed the US Air Force and the manufacturer to continue developing versions and variants for decades. In fact, there are still aircraft on the waiting list to be updated with the latest available technologies.

Most of the aircraft that Ukraine will receive belong to the F-16 MLU (Midlife Update) version, which was updated in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the technology of the time. These are by no means the most advanced units of those that make up the world’s F-16 fleet, but they already are. integrate some modern electronic systems.

For their part, the Greek F-16s have already left the assembly line with the updates belonging to the MLU version, so the equipment on board – beyond the customization of each air force – will be similar. This is a key point in terms of management authorization between the different units.

“The F-16s will add an additional layer of defense to current air defense artillery systems “It is likely that Ukraine will use them to intercept Russian cruise missiles and other less advanced surface-to-air missiles.” Which is what ultimately happened, according to Zelensky.