The Ukrainian army has said that one of the F-16 fighter planes it had received from the western countries in the ongoing war against Russia has crashed. An experienced pilot of the Ukrainian army has also died in this accident. This war between Ukraine and Russia has been going on for a long time. Western countries are constantly helping Ukraine in this war. As a part of this help, they gave this modern aircraft manufactured in America to Ukraine. This aircraft is also used by the Pakistan Air Force.
All NATO countries including the US have together promised to give about 60 fighter planes to Russia. But this is a very small number in front of the Russian aircraft fleet. Russia’s naval fleet has more than 600 fighter planes, many of which are equipped with the most advanced technology.
He had reached Ukraine just a month ago, but lost his life in front of Russian missiles
The Ukrainian army issued a post on Facebook saying that the F-16, which arrived in Ukraine last month, had to fall in front of Russian missiles. The F-16 first destroyed the 4 missiles attacked by Russia, but one missile hit the plane at the same time, after which the plane crashed. An experienced pilot of the Ukrainian army also died in this. The Defense Ministry of Ukraine has started investigating this accident.
Based on the preliminary investigation, the Ukrainian army said that the dead pilot was identified as Colonel Alexei Moonfis Mace. Colonel Moonfis and his colleague Andriy Jus Pilshchikov had visited the US in June 2022 and talked to the MPs and media there and put pressure to send F-16. Both of them were top officers of the Ukrainian Air Force. Jus died in an accident in August 2023, while now Moonfis also said goodbye to the world while protecting his country.
Lack of training became the reason for the crash of the plane
Ukraine has been using Russian-made fighter planes and weapons until the beginning of its war with Russia. After the beginning of this war, when Ukraine sought help from America, America provided it with F-16 planes. The training for this plane is usually of 3 years, but considering the situation and need of the war, this training was completed in just 16 months. This was a new technique for Ukrainian pilots who used Russian technology planes.
The Biden government of America had decided to send F-16 to help Ukraine in August 2023. However, there was a lot of debate in America that due to this decision, relations with Russia will deteriorate even more. But even after all this, the Biden government decided to give this plane to Ukraine.
Pakistan also uses F-16 aircraft
America has also given these planes to the government of Pakistan. However, America has put a condition on the government and army of Pakistan that it will use them only for anti-terrorism operations and not against any country. When India did the Balakot air strike, the Pakistan Air Force tried to violate the air border of India the next day. Then India’s pilot Abhinandan Varthaman risked his life and shot down this fighter plane with his old plane. In this conflict, an old Russian-made plane of India crashed and Pakistan’s F-16 plane also crashed.