Currently, F-16 fighters are among the most effective means of countering Russian jet unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This was stated by Colonel Yuriy Cherevashenko, Deputy Commander of the Air Force of Ukraine, during a meeting of the Interim Investigative Commission, UNIAN reports.
He also touched on the issue of the operational life and wear of aircraft.
"Any aircraft has a limited operational life, and in Ukraine these machines are used extremely intensively due to the large volume of combat missions that need to be performed. As a result, the resource is being used up quickly. The more intensively the equipment is used, the greater the need to extend its resource - either beyond the limits set by the manufacturer (which only our partners can do) or within these limits with our own forces. In short, this is an extremely complex task", Cherevashenko emphasized.
According to him, Ukraine must counter Russian UAVs at the "drone port" stage - the places from which they are launched - and this process is already underway.
"As far as I know, this approach is already being actively implemented. Although it is not yet happening on a large scale, strikes have been carried out on several drone ports, which have been put out of action until repairs are carried out. It is important to understand that these are heavily fortified facilities with concrete protection, which makes them quite difficult to destroy. However, striking them is a key element of our strategy to counter strike UAVs. "As for jet UAVs or munitions launched from carrier aircraft, the goal, of course, is to destroy the launch platforms themselves - including the aircraft used to drop guided aerial bombs (GABs)," Cherevashenko explained.
Source: news.bg