Warlornn t1_jcla5t8 wrote on March 17, 2023 at 5:28 PM

Reply to comment by DDukedesu in Slovak government to send MIG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine by esberat

Then why would F-16' be useful?

DDukedesu t1_jclb3gl wrote on March 17, 2023 at 5:34 PM

Ukraine can (and currently does) conduct low flying sorties to engage ground armor, other aircraft (e.g. helicopters), or even just to chuck some unguided rockets in the general direction of Russians. F-16 can do this just fine. More aircraft means more potential to hit and saturate air defenses. USA is already supplying HARM missiles to Ukraine, so a lot of Russian radars / SAMs are operating blind to avoid being seen.

Warlornn t1_jclbx36 wrote on March 17, 2023 at 5:39 PM

I watch videos of this way every single day. I have yet to see a video of Ukranian jets engaging ground armor.

Even their helos do that angle-up rocket attack thing that hits nothing (Russia does it too).

Your last sentence also contradicts your previous post.

DDukedesu t1_jclfdf5 wrote on March 17, 2023 at 6:01 PM

There is a difference between Radar near the front being quiet to avoid detection, and radar 150-200+ mi away scanning the skies. So no, I wasn't being contradictory.

Ukraine has released very little combat footage from their Migs, so I'm surprised there's enough footage available for you to review videos of Ukrainian jets on a daily basis. Just because we haven't seen footage of a Mig engaging a tank, doesn't mean it hasn't already happened.

Edit: HARM maximum operational range is ~140mi (fired high, so actual range is much lower based on the actual elevations Ukrainians are operating at). Russians can safely park radar and SAMs 150 miles out and not have to worry about HARM or HIMARS at this time.