On Saturday there was a clash between the air forces of both states on the Russian-Ukrainian border. As a result, the Su-35 fighter aircraft, belonging to Russia's aviation, was knocked down. The pilot managed to eject, the device fell into Federation territory. Ukrainian F-16 and its early informing aircraft Saab 340 returned safely to the bases.
Illustration photograph – F-16 fighter of Ukrainian air force.
The first reports of the incidental on 7 June came on the same day of the afternoon – the shooting down of the Russian fighter was praised by the Ukrainian Air Force and its general staff. However, this information does not indicate that Su-35 has been dropped by F-16. A more detailed description of the event was presented by the German “Bild” on Sunday, writing about the “unprecedented battle” and later another Western media. On Monday, reports on this subject were presented by Ukrainian editorial offices, including journalists with good access to the Ministry of Defence. What is worth highlighting, as Kiev is inactive officially silent about this issue.
Dry didn't fall apart in the air
So what do we know? In the border towns of the Sumic region, there have been intense fighting with the Russians for respective weeks. Following the reflection of the Russian Kursk region, the Kremlin followed the blow and tries to carry the weight of the fighting into Ukrainian territory. The mark defined Vladimir Putin himself by a decree of May this year, according to which the Russian army is to make a safety buffer in border areas of Ukraine. So far, the advancement of aggressors is symbolic, in which thanks not only to Ukrainian land troops, but besides to aviation. First of all, F-16 aircraft crews, which carry out respective missions a day, making precise bombings of the back of the Russian offensive. 1 specified task was carried out on Saturday. erstwhile the Ukrainian F-16 was tracked by the Russians, Su-35 was sent against him.
Theoretically, Su-35 poses a serious threat to Ukrainian ephos, as they carry R-77 and R-37 missiles. The second fly over 200 km away, so you can effort to shoot down the F-16 outside their own rocket range. Of course, the scope itself is not everything, the component of surprise is besides crucial – the little time the pilot of the aircraft has to execute defensive maneuvers, the easier it is to knock him down. That's most likely the script the Russians were hoping for, but they didn't count. Ukrainian F-16 supported an early informing aircraft And it was his sensors that detected the start of the Russian machine. The pilot F-16 knew about the presence of the intruder – he could not only prepare for a possible attack, but besides hit himself in advance. And so it did. The AIM-120 Amraam rocket flew towards the Russian aircraft (with a scope of 160 km). Su-35 did not fall apart in the air – the Russian-discovered movie shows a fire-covered but almost complete wreck that landed close the village of Koreniewo in the Kursk Oblast (16 km from the border with Ukraine).
First Russian shot down
F-16 is an airplane with excellent statisticsin terms of effectiveness in air combat. The pilots of these machines were assigned 72 victories without losing their own. Most of these successes are the work of Israeli aviators (52 acknowledged cases), the remainder are shared by crews from the US, Pakistan and the Netherlands (another 11, 8 and 1). In October last year there were reports of the first shooting by Ukrainian F-16 – then the Russian Su-24 would fall – but these proved premature. The Saturday incidental so has a historical dimension as the first triumph on this kind of device by Ukrainians. Moreover, this is the first case of the Russian pilot being shot down utilizing a western fighter – so far thrown down by epha (and another Western machines) russian and Russian provenance aircraft were piloted by crews from USSR/Russia alliance countries, mainly by Arabs.
So far Ukraine received about 40 F-16 piecesthe device active in the Saturday action is to come from Dutch deliveries. Unofficial information shows that Ukrainians are able to phase up to 20 efs at erstwhile – there are inactive no decently trained pilots for the remainder of the fighters. So far, the Ukrainian Air Force lost 3 F-16s – 1 due to an accident, 2 aircraft were destroyed during combat missions (one flew into shrapnel of a previously shot missile, the another knocked down the Russian OPL). An early informing aircraft was the Swedish Saab 340. 2 specified machines were donated to Ukraine by Sweden, 1 of which is already full operational and has been carrying out combat tasks for respective weeks. It is worth noting here that Two Saaba 340 are besides equipped with the Polish Air Force – machines reached Poland in 2024. The participation of Ukrainian Saab in the shooting down of Russian Su-35 is the first specified incidental in the service of Swedish AWACS.
