United States announced termination of support for Ukrainian F-16s. They may be replaced by French Mirage 2000 - Forbes
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has cut off critical support for jamming systems for the Ukrainian Air Force, which could significantly weaken its air defense capabilities.
According to Censor.NET, Forbes analyst David Axe wrote about this.
It is noted that before the transfer, the aircraft were modernized with AN/ALQ-131 units, PIDS+ and ECIPS+ systems, which increased their ability to counter Russian threats. And while the United States cannot simply pull the plug on the US-designed F-16s for the Ukrainian Air Force, stopping the jamming system upgrades poses serious risks.
However, Ukraine has an alternative - it can partially compensate for this shortcoming with French Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters.
Ukrainian pilots make extensive use of F-16s equipped with AN/ALQ-131 electronic warfare pods, which create electronic interference for Russian radars. In effect, these aircraft serve as a "flying air defense" with early warning technologies for missile attacks, according to the Conflict Intelligence Team.
The Russian air force can adapt by changing the frequencies of its radars to avoid interference. Under the Biden administration, the US Air Force regularly updated AN/ALQ-131 frequencies in response to such changes. However, under Trump, Ukrainian pilots have stopped receiving these updates, which could make the systems obsolete.
Unlike the US F-16, the French Mirage 2000 has its own powerful jamming systems, and the US does not participate in their programming.
