• G7 leaders announce new sanctions against Russia
  • Geopolitics "Fighter Coalition" takes off for Ukraine

The West seems to have lost all fear of Russia's alleged red lines in Ukraine. First, it was the tanks. Then, the British Storm Shadow cruise missiles of 300 kilometers radius of action, with sufficient range to reach Russian territory. Then came France's decision to deliver more Storm Shadow.

And today has come the commitment of the United States, communicated by the president of that country, Joe Biden, to the allies of the G7 to support the training of Ukrainian pilots by their European allies. At the same time, anonymous sources in the government of Joe Biden indicate that Washington is willing to give the green light to the delivery of F-16s from countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark or Norway to Ukraine.

In fact, the whole debate is limited to fourth-generation aircraft, designed in the decades of the 70s and 80s, among which are the American F-14 (famous for the movie Top Gun, by Tom Cruise, and already retired for more than a decade), F-15, F-16, F/A-18 (which Spain has), the European Eurofighter Typhoon, the French Rafale, and the Swedish JAS-39 Grippen. Both Russian and Ukrainian fourth-generation fighter-bombers, such as the Soviet-designed MiG-29 and Su-27, are employed in the war. The reason why the F-16 is the aircraft that everyone is talking about is because it is the most maneuverable, cheap and easy to handle and, also, because more countries have it, which facilitates the delivery of units, spare parts, and technical advice.

Training since summer

According to U.S. media, the Ukrainians' training could begin in the summer, and only about four months would be needed. That does not mean that Ukraine was going to have such devices in, for example, December. The process would be slow, because the F-16s would then have to be transferred from Western Europe to Ukraine, and once there integrated into that country's defense systems, both operationally and logistically. It is not enough to have planes that cost between 20 and 55 million euros -depending on the model- and that consume 25,000 euros for each hour of flight. You have to be able to use them, maintain them, and use them in conjunction with other weapons systems.

Ukrainians would be trained in Europe, according to Biden. If that is the case, it confirms that the Europeans are beginning to play a more active role than the Americans in the war, possibly because the Republican opposition continues to oppose what its leader in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, has called "a blank check to Ukraine." In that party's caucus in that House there are open supporters of Russia in the war, and just 10 days ago the likely candidate for the White House, Donald Trump, refused on television to say if he wants Ukraine to win the war. At the same time, Biden's team wants to focus his re-election campaign on domestic politics, where he believes Trump — or his only, if remote, alternative, Ron DeSantis — is in a vulnerable position among women and minorities, two demographics the Democratic Party needs to win.

The training, and possible delivery, of F-16s to Ukraine is yet another sign that democratic countries are preparing for a war that lasts until at least 2024. The fighter-bombers won't arrive in Ukraine until that year, and in the fall the United States will nearly double Ukraine's HIMARS short-range missile launch forces, with which Ukraine has turned the tide of the war.

  • Ukraine
  • United States
  • Joe Biden
  • Russia
  • Donald Trump
  • Democratic Party USA
  • France
  • Tom Cruise

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