A senior Ukrainian military official has said that F-16 fighter jets are “no longer relevant” as they were “needed in 2023.”
The Ukrainian Air Force are set to receive some of the multirole fighter jets in July, but each “weapon has it’s own time” during war.
A high-ranking Ukrainian officer told the Politico, “Often, we just don’t get the weapons systems at the time we need them – they come when they’re no longer relevant.
“Every weapon has its own right time. F-16s were needed in 2023; they won’t be right for 2024.”
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Military chiefs warn ‘there’s nothing that can help Ukraine now’ as the frontlines at risk of collapsing
US Congress have blocked a $60 billion military aid package which has led to severe shortages of ammunition that has helped Vladimir Putin’s army to push back Kyiv’s forces along almost the entire 600 mile front.
The Ukrainian officer told Politico that they need “howitzers” and thousands of rounds of ammunition along with air defence missiles.
Adding, “We need howitzers and shells, hundreds of thousands of shells, and rockets.”
Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian foreign minister has called for the US made Patriot defence missiles to repel Russian airstrikes on their cities.
Kuleba said, “Seven Patriot systems would be optimal, but let me be modest.
“With five Patriot batteries, we can defend the main industrial cities against Russian missiles.
“And once we’ve taken the threat away, the Patriots go back to where they were stationed.”
Kuleba has demanded for “all Patriot batteries available around the world that can be provided to Ukraine must be delivered to Ukraine.”
“Ukraine is currently the only country in the world that defends itself against ballistic missile attacks almost every day,” he added.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, told reporters on Wednesday, “What is obvious is that we need new and more money for Ukraine and we need it over many years.
“That’s one of the reasons why the Ukrainians have to ration the number of artillery shells, why they have problems standing up against the Russian force with overwhelming military power because they’re able to outgun them with more ammunition and more artillery.”
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Putin is preparing for a major offensive in June and he is preparing to mobilise 300,000 troops.
High ranking officers told Politico that Putin is set to launch a “big attack around August,” but admitted it could be sooner, this could send Ukraine into an enormous crisis.
One of the military sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the website, “There’s nothing that can help Ukraine now because there are no serious technologies able to compensate Ukraine for the large mass of troops Russia is likely to hurl at us.”
As result President Zelensky has lowered the military draft age from 27 to 25 and if Ukraine can get enough troops to be mobilised it could be significant.
The Institute for Stud of War said, “Lowering the mobilisation age is one of many measures that Ukraine has been considering in an ongoing effort to create a sustainable wartime force-generation apparatus.”
