Zelenskyy says the issue with the approaching F-16 fighter jets is identical one Ukraine had with the Abrams tanks

• Ukraine is ready to obtain its first F-16 fighter jets from its Western companions this summer season.

• However the precise variety of planes is unclear, and Zelenskyy mentioned it doubtless will not be sufficient.

• He in contrast the issue to Ukraine’s Abrams tanks, which it solely received 31 of and hasn’t used a lot.

Western-provided F-16 fighter jets are on their approach to Ukraine and set to begin flying missions later this summer season.

However they might not but be sufficient to make a distinction on the battlefield, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated in a dialogue this week on what Ukraine wants, evaluating the jets to the US-made Abrams tanks that Ukraine got last fall.

Requested by Fox Information’ host Bret Baier on the Reagan Institute if the 31 Abrams Ukraine obtained as its counteroffensive was already stumbling made a distinction, Zelenskyy said: “I am undecided that such variety of tanks can change the scenario on the battlefield.”

Talking in Washington, DC, Wednesday because the NATO summit was underway, he mentioned “it is just like the dialogue about F-16.” Usefulness comes down, in some methods, to numbers and timing.

“We at all times wait, like my mom waited me after faculty,” Zelenskyy mentioned. “This is identical however way more severe.”

“The issue with F-16,” the Ukrainian president mentioned, “is the quantity and the dates.”

The Ukrainian President mentioned that as a result of Russia is working so many fight plane “on the territory of Ukraine,” small numbers of F-16s will not make a distinction.

“Even when we could have 50, it is nothing. They’ve 300. As a result of we’re defending, we want 128,” he mentioned, including that until Ukraine has that quantity of F-16s, they will not “evaluate with them within the sky.” He mentioned “it is going to be tough.”

As Zelenskky famous, his considerations in regards to the variety of F-16s coming and the timing of these deliveries mirror conversations surrounding the US-provided Abrams tanks, which arrived in Ukraine final fall. The US despatched solely 31 M1A1 Abrams in whole, and so they have been delivered to Ukraine months after British and German tanks.

The Abrams is recognized as a “tank killer” and celebrated for its lethality and heavy armor. It has a fearsome fame, significantly given its exploits within the Gulf Battle within the early Nineteen Nineties. Consultants and former tank operators have praised the Abrams’ capabilities, noting that it’s far superior to any Russian tank.

However the Abrams hasn’t been in a position to battle the battles it was made for in Ukraine the place massed armored assaults have not been an choice and tank-on-tank fight is unusual, it faces threats from drones, anti-tank weapons, and mines, and it’s a high-profile goal obtainable in solely restricted numbers.

For comparability, Ukraine obtained about 300 US-made Bradley infantry preventing automobiles, almost ten occasions greater than the variety of Abrams despatched.

Zelenskyy’s feedback observe US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s announcement earlier Wednesday that the primary switch of F-16 fighters to Ukraine — coming from Denmark and the Netherlands — is underway.

“These jets might be flying within the skies of Ukraine this summer season to guarantee that Ukraine can proceed to successfully defend itself in opposition to Russian aggression,” he mentioned on the NATO public discussion board.

The arrival of the fourth-generation plane might be necessary for Ukraine and an upgrade over Kyiv’s Soviet-era air power and one other marker of nearer relations with the West. However there have been questions surrounding how useful the fighters will be on the battlefield and if there might be sufficient jets and educated pilots to make a distinction. There have additionally been considerations they might be coming considerably later than when Ukraine wanted them most.

The West has attributed the lengthy highway to getting F-16s to Ukraine to difficult logistics.

“The difficulty is that for F-16s, it isn’t so simple as simply getting the planes and handing them over. The planes should be reconfigured from the completely different air forces that they arrive from to make them appropriate and usable for the Ukrainian Air Drive,” a NATO official mentioned to reporters at a briefing on the sidelines of the summit Thursday.

The official additionally famous the coaching, logistics, and capabilities which are required to function and defend airfields and mentioned the yearlong technique of procuring and delivering the fighters was “truly fairly good.”

“If you happen to take a look at a program like this, usually, even [when an] allied nation in peacetime situations takes on a brand new airframe like this, it may take a lot, for much longer to get every part into place,” the official mentioned.

In a name with press on Thursday, White Home Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan acknowledged that the “ramp-up interval” to get F-16s operational in Ukraine has been vital however added that the jets are anticipated to have an effect within the short-term and give Ukraine the capability to take back territory at the moment occupied by Russia.

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