Project Sword
Recently, Yuri Slyusari, president of Russia's United Aircraft Building Corporation, said that orders for the Su-57, the fifth-generation fighter of the Russian Aerospace Forces, have doubled this year and have finally been fully completed. The Russian Ministry of Defense has received all ordered aircraft and more in 2024.
Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force has been at a disadvantage, and air supremacy has been in the hands of the Russian Aerospace Forces, making the Ukrainian army very passive on the battlefield. Whether the Ukrainian army equipped with F-16 can change the situation of the war has always attracted widespread attention from the outside world.
However, the Russian Aerospace Forces doubled the reception of the Su-57, which is undoubtedly bad news for the Ukrainian Air Force that is about to be equipped with the F-16, although the F-16 is an excellent third-generation fighter, but there is a certain gap in its technical level compared with the Su-57, especially in stealth, supersonic cruise capabilities and advanced sensors.
In order to effectively curb the changes in the battlefield situation brought about by the Ukrainian army's equipment F-16, Russia not only meets the needs of the Russian Aerospace Forces for the Su-57 and continues to maintain its superiority over the Ukrainian Air Force, but also restricts the entry of the F-16 into the Ukrainian Air Force in an all-round way.
First of all, the method of ground control was adopted, and almost all Ukrainian military airfields were knocked out, so that even if the Ukrainian Air Force had F-16, there were no take-off and landing airfields in Ukraine;
Second, draw red lines for Ukraine's neighboring countries. Russia warned that once it is found that F-16 fighters take off from Ukraine's neighboring countries to aid Ukraine, Russia will regard it as a belligerent country and retaliate against it. Russia's harsh rhetoric has made some countries have to be fearful, and six EU countries, including Austria, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Malta, have not joined the declaration of security guarantees against Kyiv.
NATO's original plan to have Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets take off from airfields in neighboring countries such as Poland, Romania and Slovakia to carry out missions in Ukraine, which may not be realized at present.