Destroy F-16! Shooting down an American fighter jet is not a problem for Russian air defense

F-16 and Missile Launch From S-300 System.
Photo: Military Watch Magazine

Following the announcement by the Ukrainian Air Force on April 12 that it had lost an F-16 fourth generation fighter and its pilot during a combat mission, which had taken place under “extremely complicated conditions,” the Russian Defence Ministry reported that Russian air defences were responsible for destroying the aircraft. “Air defences shot down a Ukrainian F-16 aircraft, eight JDAM guided aerial bombs, seven U.S.-made HIMARS missiles and 207 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles,” the ministry reported, ‘Military Watch Magazine’ stresses.

This was supported by a statement by Ukrainian Zelensky, who in vowing a “strong and precise” response, implied that Russian forces had caused the loss of the aircraft and death of its pilot.

The loss of an F-16 to ground based air defences came as a surprise to analysts, as while the fighters are near unanimously considered either obsolete or near obsolescence, they have consistently been operated far behind the frontlines to avoid being targeted. Ukraine’s Soviet built MiG-29 and Su-27 fourth generation fighters have borne the brunt of frontline combat duties and suffered rapid attrition as a result.

With F-16s continuing to operate far behind the frontlines, the loss of a system to Russian ground based air defence systems has raised the possibility that a very long ranged surface-to-air missile was used to neutralise the target deep into Ukrainian controlled territory. The most widely used missile with such capabilities is the 40N6, which has no known equivalents outside Russia. Although fielded from the October 2018, the missile class was not known to have been combat tested before its use in Ukraine was reported in November 2023. Unconfirmed reports of its use had previously also emerged from mid-2022. The missile has proven capable of engaging targets 400 kilometres away.

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