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Warlornn t1_jcky3iy wrote

Reply to comment by DisastrousAnalysis5 in Slovak government to send MIG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine by esberat

I think one F35 would actually do more than six F-16's.

There's just so much AAA in Ukraine right now, I don't see non-stealth jets being able to do much before getting shot down.

But one F-35 could go anywhere and bomb anything. One or two times per day you could have a near guaranteed destruction of something major that the Russians have behind the front lines. Troop shelters, train stations, big ammo dumps that are too far for HIMARS. All of those would be great for an F-35.

Not that it'll actually happen. It won't. But it would be awesome if it did.

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DDukedesu t1_jcl9sla wrote

No f-35 is flying so far behind Russian lines that it can hit targets beyond HIMARS range. Russia still has a fuckton of antiair, and all it takes is one lucky radar crew to spot an f35. Stealth does not mean invisible.

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Warlornn t1_jcla5t8 wrote

Then why would F-16' be useful?

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DDukedesu t1_jclb3gl wrote

Ukraine can (and currently does) conduct low flying sorties to engage ground armor, other aircraft (e.g. helicopters), or even just to chuck some unguided rockets in the general direction of Russians. F-16 can do this just fine. More aircraft means more potential to hit and saturate air defenses. USA is already supplying HARM missiles to Ukraine, so a lot of Russian radars / SAMs are operating blind to avoid being seen.

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Warlornn t1_jclbx36 wrote

I watch videos of this way every single day. I have yet to see a video of Ukranian jets engaging ground armor.

Even their helos do that angle-up rocket attack thing that hits nothing (Russia does it too).

Your last sentence also contradicts your previous post.

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DDukedesu t1_jclfdf5 wrote

There is a difference between Radar near the front being quiet to avoid detection, and radar 150-200+ mi away scanning the skies. So no, I wasn't being contradictory.

Ukraine has released very little combat footage from their Migs, so I'm surprised there's enough footage available for you to review videos of Ukrainian jets on a daily basis. Just because we haven't seen footage of a Mig engaging a tank, doesn't mean it hasn't already happened.

Edit: HARM maximum operational range is ~140mi (fired high, so actual range is much lower based on the actual elevations Ukrainians are operating at). Russians can safely park radar and SAMs 150 miles out and not have to worry about HARM or HIMARS at this time.

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