Ukraine needs 2.5 times as many F-16 fighter jets, - Zelenskyy
Ukraine needs 2.5 times as many F-16 fighter jets in the air at any one time. There is also a need for 800,000 missiles for these aircraft over a six-month period to combat the ‘Shahed’ drones.
According to Censor.NET, citing Ukrinform, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made this statement whilst speaking to journalists.
"We are also very keen to have F-16s. There are limitations on their use, as the aircraft are not new. At present, we need two and a half times as many aircraft in the air at any one time as the number we are currently deploying. In other words, we have all this on paper, but they are constantly undergoing refurbishment because the F-16s are not exactly young. We need to work on this issue with the Americans as well – we’re working on it," the President noted.
He added that combating the "Shaheds" requires a large number of munitions for the F-16s – 800,000 in six months. "And during the meeting in Denmark, we agreed that they would resolve this issue. I am very grateful to them for that," the President said.
Ukraine’s countermeasures against Russian unmanned aerial vehicles
- Since May 2026, Russian forces have been launching the new ‘Geran-4’ jet-powered drones at Ukraine. They are faster and more manoeuvrable than previous versions.
- Ukraine has four potential interceptors capable of destroying jet-powered UAVs. They have already undergone field trials, but production needs to be scaled up to thousands of units.
- On 21 August, the Ukrainian Armed Forces commissioned the first Ukrainian jet-powered drone interceptor.
- On 28 September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the overall success rate for shooting down drones currently stands at 70 per cent, whilst that for jet aircraft is 57 per cent.
- On 29 September, Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara stated that the Air Force’s air defence systems must shoot down Russian targets before they reach Kyiv.
- On 2 October, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is testing five models of jet drone interceptors.
