this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2023
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The pilots will be bringing home American doctrine, and be introduced to a wider array of weapons, tactics, and networking technology. Most importantly, in my opinion, the Soviet technology bubble has been broken and Ukraine will gain 21st century air power.
This is a big deal. They will be able to data link with NATO-provided AA systems like Patriot, as well as American operated AWACS flying over the Black Sea. Situational awareness is a big deal for survivability; this will be a huge upgrade for them.
It also enables the use of a whole host of new munitions. No longer will NATO munitions need to be retrofitted to a Su-34 or MiG-29 with reduced capability, but instead can be attached directly to the F-16 which already knows how to use them. The F-16 is one of the most popular export aircraft, so the work has already been done to get a wide array of munitions working 100% with it.