This photo was taken during training by a Ukrainian pilot with the call sign "Mirage", and behind him is an F-16 painted with the logo of the Ukrainian Air Force.
Although the Russian side greatly depreciates these second-hand F-16s, it is still cheering for the West's delay in the delivery of this fighter, and the Russian armed forces are also in turmoil because the F-16 is about to be delivered to the Ukrainian army, after all, as a **launch platform, F-16 can not only launch American-made cruise missiles with a range of 300-500 km, but also be better compatible with NATO**, and it will not be like the current storm shadow of the Ukrainian army only hits ** Russian targets, The F-16 can also effectively support the ground operations of the Ukrainian army, and its power is not comparable to the Su-25 and Su-24 of the current Ukrainian army.
Including the "Defense Express", a number of Ukrainian** disclosed that during the attack on February 7, the wreckage of a suspected "Zircon" hypersonic missile was found near a damaged power line in the Dnieper region of Kyiv, and the wreckage marked "ZM22** has been released, which means that Russia may use its latest 3M22 Zircon hypersonic missile to attack Ukraine for the first time.
Of course, it is unlikely that the Russian Russian army will use this ** up to 2300 million US dollars of "Zircon" to hit the Ukrainian army's wires, the money is not so wasted, it is more likely because it was intercepted or crashed, the details need to be further investigated. Whether the real combat effect of Zircon is as advanced as claimed is unknown, but the power is still just, and a large fish pond was dug directly in Ukraine.
The positioning of the Zircon is higher than that of the Dagger, and the missile rendered by the Russian side before, because it is too fast and has too strong penetration capabilities, there is no air defense system on the earth that can intercept it. But there is a logic that cannot be solved, the faster the missile flies, the higher the high temperature resistance requirements of the material, and materials science is not Russia's forte, just say that Russia has this kind of missile, so how can it solve the fatal problem of the missile flying too fast, so as not to burn directly in the air because of air friction?
According to the current Ukrainian air defense system, which is not the most advanced in the West, the myth of the Dagger has been blown away, and the Zircon may have been blown away, and because the myth of hypersonic missiles has been debunked, 12 Russian missile experts involved in the hypersonic missile project have been arrested, 3 of them have died, and 2 have been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The FSB arrested them on suspicion of treason or leaking information abroad. This shows that bragging is a death story, at least for Moscow, after the dagger that has been repeatedly exaggerated has been punctured, it is conceivable that it has become angry and ashamed, has the funds for the development of missiles been tearfully divided, and have these missile experts directly participated in the falsification and fooling the Kremlin?