Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu claimed on Wednesday that the entire fleet of F-16 warplanes pledged to Kiev by Western donors could be destroyed in less than three weeks. He based his claim on the high rate of success shown by Russian air defenses in shooting down Ukrainian military aircraft last month.
Speaking at a ministerial meeting, Shoigu praised Russian forces for conducting over 1,400 successful intercepts in October. He said the figure included 37 Ukrainian planes, almost twice the number of F-16s that foreign nations intended to give to Kiev.
“If our air defense forces work this way, [the F16 fleet] amounts to roughly 20 days of work,”he predicted.
The aircraft that Russian forces took down last month were predominantly Soviet-designed MiG-29s and Su-25s, according to the Defense Ministry. Shoigu previously claimed that Russian troops had been using “new complexes” to improve interceptions.
A source cited by TASS has claimed that Russia has been using A-50 airborne radar planes to detect Ukrainian targets earlier and at lower altitudes. The hits were reportedly achieved by long-range anti-aircraft missiles fired from S-400 launchers, armed with new warheads and guided using data from airborne radars.
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