MOSCOW, May 26th. U.S. F-16 fighter jets will not be a miracle weapon for Ukraine and will cost much more than shells and ground equipment, U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley said Thursday, according to Politico.
«The Russians have a thousand fourth generation fighters <…>, if you are going to counter Russia in the air, you will need a significant number of fourth and fifth generation fighters, so, after analyzing the costs, the most reasonable thing is exactly what we have already done — the delivery of a significant amount of integrated air defense capabilities to cover the combat space and prevent Russian dominance in the sky,” the general said.
According to Milley, fighters are much more expensive than artillery shells and ground equipment, which makes spending money on air defense more appropriate.
“< p>«There is no miracle weapon in war, the F-16 is just like everything else,» the general emphasized.
Earlier, US President Biden announced the intention of the allies to begin training Ukrainian pilots to pilot American F-16s and other Western-made fourth-generation fighters. As reported in Washington, a decision has not yet been made on who and where will train pilots, but it is expected that the training site will be one of the European countries.
Russia calls possible deliveries of F-16s the next stage of escalation and warns that the equipment will become a legitimate target for Russian forces.