The Ukrainian Air Force has, for the first time, used a Lockheed Martin F-16 to shoot down a Russian aircraft, specifically a Sukhoi Su-35S fighter-bomber, according to a report from the Kyiv Post. The engagement occurred on June 7 near the town of Korenevo in the Kursk region of Russia and allegedly involved support from a Saab 340 airborne early warning and control plane, also a new entrant in the UAF’s fleet. The Russian pilot successfully ejected before their plane was shot down.
F-16s, advanced NATO fighter jets, first started arriving in the besieged country in August 2024 after a protracted political campaign to acquire them to replace Ukraine’s aging Soviet-era fighter fleet. Much of the analysis at the time noted that F-16s would alter the balance of power in the air, making it much more difficult for Russia to strike with impunity. The fighter’s first air-to-air kill in the war would seem to validate that theory.
The planes involved in the skirmish
The specific fighter in the sortie was an F-16AM originally from the Netherlands, which has given 24 such planes to Ukraine. The Royal Netherlands Air Force doesn’t particularly need the fighters anymore, since it fully retired F-16s out of its fleet in September 2024 (replaced entirely by Lockheed Martin F-35s). These Dutch planes are old, first deployed in 1979, although they did receive upgrades in the meantime. Still, they’re a sight better than the archaic Soviet-made MiG-29s that Ukraine had been flying up until now. Over half of that fleet has been destroyed by more modern Russian systems since the start of the full-scale invasion.
By contrast, the Su-35 was first deployed in 2012 and is considered to be a “fourth-and-a-half-generation” fighter, more advanced than Cold War planes but not quite up to par with the ultra-modern F-35. A derivation of the earlier Su-27, it features vastly upgraded avionics and better maneuverability than its predecessor. It is still in production as one of the mainstays of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
If hand-me-down F-16s from the 1970s can prove themselves to be a match for Russia’s current-day fighters, that makes it much more difficult for the invading country to deploy its air assets into Ukraine. Worse for Russia’s long-term prospects, it doesn’t exactly bode well for a potential match-up between Su-35s and NATO’s F-35s. Like all bullies, in trying to look tough, Russia might actually be showing just how weak it really is.
