F-16s to increase efficiency of HARM missiles’ use

Ukraine will gain more advantages in using the U.S.-made HARM missiles once it gets to operate F-16 fighter jets.

That’s according to Brigadier General Serhii Holubtsov, who spoke in an interview with RFE/RL’s Donbas.Realii project.

“The weapons we received have somewhat improved our efficiency. Moreover, we used to not have HARM anti-radar missiles at all. So they helped turn the tide in the fight against their air defense systems. But their efficiency would be much better with the the F-16s. They have a special receiver that gives the pilot information on which of the enemy's air defense systems is operating, and at which azimuth. That is, the missile is launched precisely at the operating launcher. This would allow for improving the performance several times," says the Ukrainian military officer.

According to the commander, the same applies to other weapons, such as "smart" bombs.

"We program them on the ground, although the F-16s would allow for skipping this ground programming and engage targets after detecting them in-flight so this would also increase efficiency. And this applies to almost the entire line of high-precision weapons, which pilots manning NATO planes use depending on real-time combat situation rather than have them programmed on the ground," Holubtsov noted.

Read also: First F-16s arriving in Ukraine to send strong signal that “Russia will only lose” - Zelensky

Therefore, the aviation chief believes Russian military “should not relax as Ukraine’s Air Force’s capabilities and might are increasing by the day.”

"I think that they will understand this only when they lose in the airspace and lose the entire war," he concluded.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said following the Ramstein-12 meeting that next month, Denmark and the Netherlands, in cooperation with the U.S., will start developing a base for comprehensive training of Ukrainian war pilots. Norway, Belgium, Portugal, and Poland also offered to contribute.