Ukraine finally deploys long-awaited US-made F-16 fighter jets
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00:00A carefully staged military ceremony to unveil the Ukrainian Air Force's new jewel, US-made
00:07F-16 Fazer jets.
00:11Here they fly through the Ukrainian sky.
00:14Planes vaunted for their precision, speed and range.
00:18Ever since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky has called
00:23on Kyiv's allies to deliver the planes in the hope of ending Russia's aerial supremacy
00:29in the war.
00:32We often heard the words, it's impossible, as a response, but we made possible what was
00:37our ambition, our need in defence.
00:41Now it's a reality, reality is in our skies, F-16s in Ukraine.
00:47The Ukrainian president did not specify how many F-16s had been delivered, but Ukraine's
00:53allies had promised 79 of them.
00:56Ukraine had requested between 120 and 130 to fight off the Russian Air Force, but more
01:02Ukrainian military personnel need to be trained to fly the aircraft, as well as maintenance
01:07staff.
01:08The number of F-16s we have in Ukraine, the number of pilots who have already been trained
01:14is not enough.
01:15The good news is that we are expecting additional F-16s.
01:20The positive thing is that our guys are now training a lot.
01:25Given these constraints, F-16s are unlikely to be a magic bullet in the conflict and Russia
01:31says they will have no significant impact on the war, warning that they will be shot
01:35down.
01:36A recent series of Russian strikes on Ukrainian airbases has also cast doubt on Kyiv's capacity
01:42to defend what is expensive weaponry.