Will Trump Stop Ukraine's F-16s From Jamming Russian Radars?
Ukraine’s F-16s are its best aerial radar jammers—but they need American help, which could end
A dramatic photo of a Ukrainian air force Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter hauling a heavy load of missiles, bombs and electronic warfare equipment into battle somewhere over Ukraine is a stark reminder of what Kyiv’s force’s could lose as the latest ultimatum from the White House looms.
The single-engine, supersonic F-16—one of around 90 that a consortium of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway has pledged to Ukraine—can be seen with AIM-9 infrared-guided air-to-air missiles, AIM-120 radar-guided air-to-air missiles, GBU-39 precision glide bombs, and, most strikingly, an AN/ALQ-131 jamming pod.
Ukraine’s surviving F-16s—four have been lost—can do a lot of things. Shoot down Russian missiles and drones and bomb Russian troops. But they’re also the Ukrainian air force’s best electronic protection.
With their AN/ALQ-131 pods and other electronic warfare kit, the F-16s can detect and jam Russian radars—not only protecting themselves from Russian air defenses, but also extending that protection over nearby Ukrainian jets that don’t have similar E.W. equipment. In particular, Ukraine’s ex-Soviet MiGs and Sukhois routinely fly with no protection at all.
It’s not for no reason that the Ukrainian air force began organizing complex strike packages mixing Soviet- and Western-designed warplanes only after the first F-16s arrived in August 2024, followed a few months later by the first ex-French Dassault Mirage 2000s, which also carry jamming gear.
“Sometimes when we arrive, there are already F-16s waiting there, or sometimes Mirages,” a Ukrainian fighter pilot said in an official video from March. The F-16s and Mirages “either cover the whole package that is sent there to [strike] our enemies, or also strike [themselves],” the pilot said.
The F-16s’ AN/ALQ-131 in particular can “give you a pocket of air superiority for a moment’s time to achieve an objective that has strategic importance and impact,” a U.S. Air Force official explained.
Read the rest at Euromaidan Press.
