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A U.S. Air Force squadron has been tasked with reprogramming F-16 fighter jets donated to Ukraine so they can use electronic warfare to counter evolving Russian threats.
The Air Force announced Monday that the 68th Electronic Combat Squadron, part of the 350th Spectrum Fighter Wing, recently worked with the Danish and Norwegian militaries to support the long-awaited deployment of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
Denmark and the Netherlands have provided Ukraine with its first batch of F-16 fighter jets, which Kiev finally unveiled earlier this month, but the U.S.-made aircraft’s electronic warfare subsystems needed some upgrading to prepare them for the new threat environment.
Electronic warfare has been a prominent feature of the war between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides regularly using it to disrupt enemy weapons systems such as precision strike munitions, guided bombs and missiles.
The widespread use of such tactics in the conflict has forced both Russia and Ukraine to expand their EW practices and find innovative ways to develop countermeasures.
Russia and Ukraine “rely heavily on unfettered access to the electromagnetic spectrum to accomplish commander’s objectives,” the 350th Air Force Battalion, based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, said in a statement. statement“During the war, both sides have continually engaged in electronic warfare using techniques such as jamming and spoofing to gain frequency superiority,” it added.
“The transfer of third-party F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands will add new electronic warfare capabilities to the Ukrainian fight,” the 350th Air Force said, without specifying what those capabilities were.
“Effectively integrating the F-16 into the Ukrainian Air Force requires that the aircraft’s electronic warfare subsystems be reprogrammed to counter evolving threats within the Russian threat spectrum,” the wing said in a statement, referring to electronic warfare. “Because it is an urgent priority for the United States and our partners, the 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron has addressed this challenge head-on.”
The squadron first had to learn about the unfamiliar systems on the F-16s soon to be delivered from Europe that the U.S. doesn’t have, and Denmark and Norway provided data to help the Americans understand the systems and how to reprogram them.
The 68th Squadron learned about the system and traveled abroad to develop and test it, then verified whether its various elements would meet Ukrainian requirements. The squadron members said cooperation with partner nations paved the way for the project’s success.
“When we talk about close-range conflict, we need all allies to operate with the same strategy to achieve spectrum superiority,” the 68th EWS commander said in a statement, without naming the commanders.
“A single F-16 equipped with a reprogrammed pod will not provide air superiority by itself, but it could potentially provide temporary air superiority to achieve strategically significant and impactful targets,” he added, expressing his excitement about the capability.
NATO countries have pledged to send dozens of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, significantly strengthening the capabilities of Kiev’s aging Soviet-era aircraft.
But Ukrainian officials, U.S. officials and experts have warned that the F-16 would not necessarily be a breakthrough platform, given the tough operating environment and the challenges it faces with Russia’s advanced air defense systems.
Ukrainian leaders have also said there likely aren’t enough fighter jets to have a noticeable impact, but with the right weapons configuration, the fighters could still be effective in certain offensive and defensive missions.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the F-16 Used in combat To shoot down a Russian missile during a major attack the previous day.