For what is claimed to be the first time in the history of the use of the F-16 Viper fighter aircraft, a Ukrainian pilot destroyed six Russian cruise missiles in one combat mission using a combination of air-to-air missiles and the aircraft’s 20mm cannon.
On Dec. 13 Russia launched a massive assault on Ukraine using almost 200 Russian attack drones and more than 90 Kinzhal aero ballistic, ground-launched ballistic, and air, sea and land-based cruise missiles.
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Former Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yuri Inhat said on Facebook that in response to the attack, the Ukrainian F-16 pilot was scrambled to attempt to intercept the incoming missiles. The fighter had two AIM-120s, two short-range AIM-9 air-to-air missiles, and 500 rounds in its 20mm cannon.
Inhat said the pilot demonstrated exceptional skill and precision to overcome a hostile electronic warfare environment to successfully take on multiple Russian missiles. According to Ukraine’s Air Force Command, the pilot took down four cruise missiles using his aircraft’s missiles. The barrage of cruise missiles continued and, despite being low on fuel and needing to return to base, the pilot identified more missiles heading toward Kyiv, so he decided to act.
In a complex and high-risk maneuver, he took on a missile traveling at over 650 kph (405 mph), using the aircraft cannon to intercept it.
“I realized there were few chances to hit a missile flying at 650 kph or more. First, I had to find it in the sky, get to the same altitude and hit it from a distance of no more than one and a half kilometers (less than a mile). Getting any closer is extremely dangerous – if a 450-gram (1.00 pound) warhead detonates, there is a high risk of the aircraft flying into a cloud of wreckage,” the pilot said, remembering the training he had received from his US instructors.
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He added: “A few bursts from the cannon - and an explosion... then there was another one!”
He thought there had been a secondary detonation, but it was a second missile hit by the burst from the aircraft’s cannon.
“They say that even Americans couldn’t believe he did it,” Inhat said.
The pilot added that, while many said he had set a record that day, “the main thing is the result! I’m glad I succeeded, and I dedicate this success to all my brothers-in-arms who have gone into eternal flight before they could see the F-16 in the Ukrainian sky.”
A Ukrainian Air Force member said that its F-16 pilots had trained on US simulators to shoot down missiles with the cannon but had never attempted it in real-life combat.
As Kyiv Post reported on the weekend, Deputy Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Serhiy Melnyk said Ukraine has decided to shorten its F-16 training programs to fully crew all the aircraft it had received from Denmark and the Netherlands as soon as possible. That decision has been questioned because of the aircraft’s complexity and because even pilots experienced in Soviet-era aircraft have struggled to overcome language difficulties, making mastering the F-16 systems much harder.
The F-16 is a formidable weapon with a multi-role capability that allows it to carry out air-to-air combat, ground attack, and reconnaissance missions. It incorporates advanced avionics including radars that enable effective targeting and situational awareness. It can perform complex aerial maneuvers at speeds approaching 1,900 kph (1,200 mph).
It is said that even those who have completed the “full program” have taken time to operate effectively in the rapidly evolving scenarios on the modern battlefield. No details were given on the pilot who achieved this remarkable feat, but it has to be assumed he was one of the first batch of pilots trained in 2023 and has been flying the planes since they arrived in July.
“The F-16s we have received from our partners are not the latest versions,” Ihnat said. “We do not have the most powerful radars or the longest-range missiles on these aircraft to compete in air battles with Russian technological aircraft alone, but young Ukrainian pilots prove every day that they are the best, whether in the cockpit of a Soviet or American fighter!”
He added: “Just imagine what a formidable deterrent in the center of Europe will be represented by war-hardened Ukrainian pilots when the Air Force receives F-35s!”
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