Ukrainian pilot: “We had to invent new tactics for the F-16. The war with Russia is nothing like what NATO taught us”
One of the first Ukrainian F-16 pilots to be trained admits that Ukraine's air force had to rewrite the rules of air combat because the training it received in the West was for a different kind of war – not for the harsh, asymmetric and highly saturated conflict in Ukraine.
Ukrainian F 16 plane/PHOTO: X
The Ukrainian Air Force on Monday published a video interview with the pilot, whose name has not been made public, in which he talks about the performance of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, but also about the first difficulties encountered after returning to the front.
The serviceman recounts that in the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion, he flew Soviet fighter jets before being sent overseas for training on F-16s donated by Western allies. Returning to the front, however, was a shock.
“When we came back, we were hit with reality. The tactics we learned abroad don't quite match the war we have here, because they are built on the experience of other conflicts our partners have been involved in. This war is fundamentally different.”explained the pilot.
According to him, the Ukrainian Air Force had to find its own solutions: how to shoot down cruise missiles, how to combat attack drones, how to fight the enemy in close proximity to the contact line.
Reverse lessons: Ukraine teaches allies
The Ukrainian experience is now starting to be carefully analyzed by Western partners, says the pilot.
“When the partners see our efficiency, they understand how, in extremely limited conditions, we manage to execute missions with such results. And, I would even say, they learn from us. They adjust their tactics that they taught us during the training abroad”he emphasized.
Although he did not provide technical details about the new tactics developed, the pilot described a risky mission recently carried out in Donbas. His three-plane formation faced an extremely dense Russian air defense system, supplemented by enemy air assets.
“They did not allow us to approach the target. We attracted two missiles, launched from different directions, and thus created a window for our attack aircraft to destroy the objective,” the pilot reported. All members of the party returned safely.
From Soviet planes to NATO standards
Ukraine has so far received 44 of the 87 F-16 aircraft promised by European states. The first crews were trained in Romania, in a program coordinated by several NATO countries, including the United States, which targeted pilots, technicians and support personnel.
The pilot says one of the biggest challenges was the language barrier. During periods of rest between combat missions, he studied English intensively – grammar, colloquial language and aeronautical terminology.
“It was very hard. After a combat mission, a pilot should rest, because he never knows when he will be called into the air again”he confessed.
The first Ukrainian F-16s entered combat in August 2024, initially being used primarily for air defense, against drones and cruise missiles. Since then, Ukraine has lost four such machines, but the pilots have also managed notable feats – including shooting down six missiles in a single mission.
The pilot interviewed praises the F-16 as a plane that “works flawlessly,” but admits he would like the more advanced Block 70/72 version, equipped with fifth-generation technologies, more powerful, anti-jamming radars, and an upgraded cockpit.
“If we had these aircraft, I am convinced that our toll would not only include destroyed drones and missiles, but also enemy aircraft operating along the front line,” concluded the Ukrainian pilot.
