F-16s arrive in Ukraine after negotiations, training: Weapons and Warfare

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HELLO AND WELCOME TO ANOTHER EDITION OF WEAPONS AND WARFARE FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS. I’M YOUR HOST, RYAN ROBERTSON. IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE, SOME MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN UKRAINE’S WAR AGAINST RUSSIA’S ILLEGAL INVASION.

A LITTLE LESS THAN A YEAR AFTER PRESIDENT BIDEN GAVE THE GREENLIGHT FOR ALLIED NATIONS TO PROVIDE UKRAINIANS WITH A FLEET OF USED F-16s, THAT OFFER HAS BECOME REALITY. JUST AHEAD, HEAR FROM A UKRAINIAN PILOT AND….. ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE UKRAINE.

AND WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE HAWKEYE HOWITZER. MOUNTED TO A HUMVEE, IT MAKES FOR A VERY POWERFUL SHOOT-AND-SCOOT WEAPON OF THE WEEK.  

BUT FIRST, HERE ARE SOME HEADLINES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED. 

MORE AMERICAN DEFENSIVE CAPABILITIES ARE HEADED TO THE MIDDLE EAST TO BOLSTER FORCE PROTECTION FOR U.S. TROOPS IN THE REGION AND TO DEFEND ISRAEL. ACCORDING TO DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH, THE DEPLOYMENT IS IN RESPONSE TO CONTINUED THREATS FROM IRAN AND IRANIAN-BACKED MILITIAS.

[Sabrina Singh, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary] 

“We’ve demonstrated since October, and again in April, the United States’s global defense is dynamic, and the department retains the capability to deploy on short notice to meet evolving national security threats.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHICH UNITS AND EQUIPMENT WILL BE DEPLOYED REMAINS TO BE DETERMINED, BUT SINGH STRESSED THAT ANY CAPABILITIES WILL BE PURELY DEFENSIVE AND WILL “SEND A MESSAGE OF DETERRENCE.” 

THE U.S. HAS HANDED OVER ITS LAST MILITARY BASE IN NIGER TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES. THE OUTPOST WAS ONE OF TWO CRUCIAL HUBS FOR AMERICAN COUNTERTERRORISM OPERATIONS IN THE COUNTRY.

THE HANDING OVER OF AIRBASE 201 IN THE CITY OF AGADEZ CAME AFTER THE U.S. TROOPS WITHDREW LAST MONTH FROM AIRBASE 101, A SMALL DRONE BASE IN NIGER’S CAPITAL OF NIAMEY.

[Gen. Ken Ekman, Director of Strategic Studies for AFRICOM]

“Over the past decade, U.S. troops have trained Niger’s forces and supported partner-led counterterrorism missions against Islamic State and al-Qaida in the region.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IN RECENT MONTHS NIGER HAS PULLED AWAY FROM ITS WESTERN PARTNERS, TURNING INSTEAD TO RUSSIA FOR SECURITY.

IN APRIL, RUSSIAN MILITARY TRAINERS ARRIVED IN NIGER TO REINFORCE THE COUNTRY’S AIR DEFENSES.

THE U.S. ARMY HAS SIGNED-OFF ON THE MILESTONE-B DECISION FOR THE FUTURE LONG RANGE ASSAULT AIRCRAFT. OR, IF YOU LOVE YOUR ACRONYMS, THE FLRAA.

THE DECISION COMES AFTER A SUCCESSFUL PRELIMINARY DESIGN REVIEW AND A MEETING OF THE ARMY SYSTEMS ACQUISITION REVIEW COUNCIL. MILESTONE B ALLOWS THE ARMY TO EXERCISE CONTRACT OPTIONS AND CONTINUE DEVELOPING THE AIRCRAFT AS IT ENTERS THE ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT PHASE.

BUILT BY BELL TEXTRON, THE V-280 VALOR IS A TILTROTOR AIRCRAFT DESIGNED TO HAVE A CREW OF FOUR AND THE CAPABILITY TO TRANSPORT UP TO 14 TROOPS. 

THE ARMY IS PLANNING FOR THE FIRST FLRAA FLIGHT IN 2026 WITH LOW-RATE INITIAL PRODUCTION SCHEDULED TO BEGIN IN 2028 AND INITIAL FIELDING ACTIVITY IN 2030

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IN MAY OF 2023, PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN ANNOUNCED HIS DECISION TO GREENLIGHT A PLAN TO HAVE AMERICA’S ALLIES TRAIN UKRAINIAN PILOTS AS WELL AS PROVIDE THE COUNTRY’S MILITARY WITH SURPLUS F-16S FROM THE NETHERLANDS, DENMARK, BELGIUM AND NORWAY. 

THAT SPARKED A CONCERTED EFFORT TO NOT ONLY TRAIN PILOTS BUT ALSO GROUND CREWS, MAINTAINERS, AND MUNITIONS TROOPS, AMONG OTHERS. NO SMALL TASK, GIVEN THE PRESSING NATURE OF THE COUNTRY’S WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. BUT A LITTLE LESS THAN A YEAR LATER THOSE PLANS HAVE BECOME A REALITY.

THE ARRIVAL OF F-16S IN UKRAINE IS ARGUABLY ONE OF THE BIGGEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THAT COUNTRY’S DEFENSE SINCE RUSSIA’S ILLEGAL INVASION IN FEBRUARY 2022. 

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President, Ukraine]

“I am proud of all our guys who are mastering these planes and have already started using them for our country. I thank our team for this important result. Thank you to the partners who effectively helped with the f-16 and the first countries that accepted our request for the provision of planes.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

BUT IT WAS NEVER A SURE THING. ONLY AFTER RECEIVING ASSURANCES FROM UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY THAT UKRAINE WOULDN’T USE THE FOURTH-GENERATION FIGHTER IN RUSSIAN TERRITORY DID PRESIDENT BIDEN AGREE TO JOIN THE COALITION OF ALLIES IN PROVIDING THE TRAINING AND THE HARDWARE.

[JOE BIDEN]

“To strengthen Ukraine’s air force is part of long term commitment to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. We provided it last year all they needed to deal with what they were dealing with at the moment, and now we’re moving into a direction and putting them in a position to be able to defend themselves in ways beyond what they’ve had to deal with so far.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THAT DECISION PUT INTO MOTION A FULL-COURT PRESS TO GET UKRAINIAN AIRMEN TRAINED IN ALL THINGS F-16. ESSENTIALLY AN INTENSE  BOOT CAMP FOR LANGUAGE SKILLS, MAINTENANCE AND THE MACHINE AT THE HEART OF IT ALL. 

[“Moonfish”, F-16 Pilot, Ukrainian Air Force]

“We study a lot we fly a lot we prep for the missions and so on. Royal Danish Air Force has taken a huge responsibility on their shoulders for carrying out this mission. And I can only imagine how hard it is to for them to train us for day to day operation, but there have been nothing but supportive.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THAT SUPPORT HAS COME IN A MULTI-NATIONAL EFFORT. WHILE THE U.S. HAS CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFIGANTLY, THE DUTCH, BELGIANS, NORWEIGIANS AND DANISH HAVE DONE THE LIONS SHARE OF HANDS-ON WORK WITH NOT ONLY THE UKRAINIANS, BUT THE EARLY MODEL F-16s DESTINED FOR THE SKIES OVER THE WAR TORN COUNTRY. MAJOR GENERAL JAN DAM, CHIEF OF THE ROYAL DANISH AIR FORCE, SAYS THE UKRAINIANS ARE GETTING GOOD EQUIPMENT.

[MG Jan Dam, Chief of the Royal Danish Air Force]

“It has been updated that several times and as it is right here, it’s a very, very modern aircraft. It’s competitive with the Best Western fighters and I’m sure that the Ukrainian Air Force will benefit from that. We are in this together and we have a lot of sympathy with the Ukrainian people and we want to do whatever we can to help.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE IT’S TOO SOON TO KNOW WHAT ROLE THE F-16s WILL ULTIMATELY PLAY IN UKRAINE’S EFFORTS TO EXPELL RUSSIA FROM THEIR BORDERS, INTELLIGENCE EXPERTS, LIKE JONATHAN MOLIK, SAY DON’T EXPECT THEM TO TO MAKE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT IN THE OUTCOME OF THE WAR. 

[Jonathon Molik, Director of Intelligence and Security]

“First of all, they have a few hurdles to overcome. They don’t have as many pilots as they would need. They have some issues with maintenance and parts and other things, but ultimately any help in any way to Ukraine is a positive thing. And on the battle space, I would say that, again, as you had said, this is not a game changer per se. This isn’t going to switch the flat or the forward line of troops in any significant way. However, it will give Ukraine the ability to hit what we call high value targets.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

INTERESTINGLY, THAT’S A THOUGHT SHARED, AT LEAST IN PART, BY THOSE TRUSTED TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN. KREMLIN SPOKESMAN DMITRY PESKOV TOLD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THAT THE DELIVERY OF F-16S TO UKRAINE “WON’T HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT IMPACT” ON THE BATTLEFIELD.

[Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin Spokesman]

“There is no magic pill, no panacea for the armed forces of the Kyiv regime,” he said in a conference call with reporters. “After the emergence of those planes, their number will drop, they will be shot down and destroyed.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

UNSURPRISINGLY, THAT’S NOT A VIEW SHARED BY THE AIRMEN THAT HAVE BEEN TRAINING TO GET IN THE COCKPIT AND HELP DETERMINE THE FATE OF THEIR COUNTRY. 

[“Moonfish”, F-16 Pilot, Ukrainian Air Force]  

“It is really a super fun jet to fly I’m not saying that make the day flew before is super boring but the F 16 is definitely more agile it easily moves the moment to think of something it turns I felt proud not only for myself but only for for the for the rest of the guys and that we’re doing now I know how much work has been done to have this opportunity”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE WE DON’T KNOW HOW MANY JETS WERE PROVIDED IN THE FIRST TRANCHE, THE ONES THAT WERE ON DISPLAY APPEAR TO BE FROM THE DANISH AIR FORCE, EQUIPPED WITH AIM-1-20 MISSILES, AS WELL AS AN ELECTRONIC WARFARE SYSTEM, RADAR JAMMER, MISSILE WARNING SYSTEM, AND AN ARRAY OF COUNTERMEASURES.

IN HIS OFFICIAL RELEASE ON THE JETS’ ARRIVAL, PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY STRESSED A SHORTAGE OF TRAINED PILOTS AND THE LIMITED NUMBER OF F-16s WILL CONSTRAIN THEIR IMMEDIATE BATTLEFIELD IMPACT. 

STILL, THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST F-16s REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT STEP IN UKRAINE’S EFFORT TO EXPEL RUSSIA FROM ITS BORDERS AND OFFERS A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT AFTER NEARLY TWO YEARS OF WORK TO ACQUIRE THE AMERICAN-MADE FIGHTERS.

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ACCORDING TO MY PRODUCER, WHO LOVES OBSCURE CENTURIES-OLD QUOTES THAT HE ASSURES ME ARE REAL, PRUSSIAN GENERAL AND MILITARY THEORIST CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ ONCE WROTE “THE BACKBONE OF SURPRISE IS FUSING SPEED WITH SECRECY.”  AN IDEA THAT’S AS TRUE TODAY AS IT WAS WHEN HE WROTE IT 200 YEARS AGO. AND IT PERFECTLY DESCRIBES THE CAPABILITIES OF OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK. 

MEET THE HAWKEYE MOBILE HOWITZER SYSTEM OR THE M-H-S! 

MADE BY A-M GENERAL, THE SAME PEOPLE WHO GAVE THE WORLD THE HUMVEE, THIS SHOOT-AND-COOT SOLUTION ELIMINATES THE NEED TO TOW A HOWITZER BY BUILDING IT RIGHT INTO THE VEHICLE. GIVING OPERATORS THE ABILITY TO DEPLOY AND REDEPLOY WITH, YOU GUESSED IT, SPEED AND SECRECY. 

[Voice of: Capt. James Brock, 2nd Battalion, 122 Field Artillery, Illinois Army National Guard]

“So it’s one single unit. You don’t have to displace the howitzer, or unhook the Howitzer from the vehicle in order to fire the Howitzer. So it’s a little bit of a time saver.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IT’S AN OPTION THAT’S BEEN TESTED BY THE ARMY FOR SEVERAL YEARS, AND WHILE THEY HAVEN’T BOUGHT OFF ON IT YET, THAT COULD CHANGE DEPENDING ON RECENT EVENTS. 

MIKE EVANS, THE DIRECTOR OF A-M GENERALS SOFT RECOIL TECHNOLOGIES & FIRES PROGRAMS, TOLD AN AUDIENCE AT THIS YEAR’S U.S. FIELD ARTILLERY ASSOCIATION’S FIRES SYMPOSIUM THE HOWITZER HAWKEYE IS LIKELY TO PLAY A ROLE IN UKRAINE’S WAR AGAINST RUSSIA’S ILLEGAL INVASION.

[Courtesy: USFAA Fires Symposium // Mike Evans, AM General]

“We recently put a 105 system into Ukraine. We shipped it on the 26th April. It was received in Ukraine on the second of April. We trained it for two weeks, they immediately went into testing and that systems destined to be one of the first soft recoil systems in combat. So it’s it’s moving very quickly..”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE NOT NAMING THE HAWKEYE DIRECTLY, A-M GENERAL HAS JUST ONE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE 105 MM HOWITZER AVAILABLE.

EQUIPPED WITH A SOFT RECOIL SYSTEM, THE HAWKEYE IS RATED TO FIRE THREE ROUNDS PER MINUTE BUT CAN SAFELY FIRE UP TO EIGHT ROUNDS PER MINUTE FOR THREE MINUTES. IN A MAY 2019 INTERVIEW, CAPTAIN JAMES BROCK OF THE ILLINOIS ARMY NATIONAL GUARD SAID THAT KIND OF PERFORMANCE IS ONE ARTILLARY TROOPS CAN GET BEHIND.

[Capt. James Brock, 2nd Battalion, 122 Field Artillery, Illinois Army National Guard]

“The soldiers were obviously excited. I mean, anytime you get an opportunity to to work on any other howitzer system, whether it’s a test system or just going from a one one Niner to a Paladin, right if it’s different, but it still goes boom, and it’s loud. They’re always excited to try out a new weapon system.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

AS FOR THE RANGE OF FIRE, IF THE 105 ROUND IS EQUIPPED WITH THE EXTENDED-RANGE ROCKET-ASSISTED M-9-13, IT CAN HIT TARGETS UP TO 12 MILES AWAY.

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[RYAN ROBERTSON]

COMING OUT OF THIS YEAR’S ‘SEA, AIR, SPACE’ SYMPOSIUM, HELD BY THE U.S. NAVY LEAGUE, ONE OF THE BIG TOPICS OF DISCUSSION WAS THE STATE OF SHIPBUILDING IN THE UNITED STATES. SINCE WE FIRST REPORTED ON THE TOPIC IN MAY, THERE HAVE BEEN SOME INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS. 

RECENTLY, TWO SOUTH KOREAN SHIPBUILDERS SIGNED MASTER SHIP REPAIR AGREEMENTS, OR MSRAs, WITH THE U.S. NAVY. THE RESPECTIVE AGREEMENTS WILL PROVIDE A BIG BOOST IN CLEARING A DECADES-LONG BACKLOG OF MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR NEEDED FOR AMERICA’S NAVAL FLEET. TO BREAK IT ALL DOWN, I CAUGHT UP WITH THE HOST OF THE POPULAR YOUTUBE CHANNEL ‘WHAT’S GOING ON WITH SHIPPING’ FOR THIS WEEK’S COMMS CHECK.

SAL MERCOGLIANO, A FRIEND OF THE SHOW. THANKS FOR JOINING US. ONCE AGAIN, I WANT TO TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT TODAY ABOUT SOUTH KOREA KIND OF ENTERING THE US SHIPBUILDING SPACE. WE HAVE HD HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES AND HANWHA OCEAN BOTH SIGNING THOSE MSRA DAYS IN JULY. WHAT WERE YOUR INITIAL TAKEAWAYS WHEN THAT NEWS KIND OF CAME ACROSS YOUR FEEDS? 

{Sal Mercogliano, Host ‘What Is Going On With Shipping}

“Well, thanks for having me, Ryan. I think it’s not unexpected. There have been a big push by Secretary Del Toro Navy Secretary, in part of his maritime statecraft to really expand the shipbuilding base. And one of his efforts has been to kind of bring the Allies into the fold in both shipbuilding and ship repair. And we’ve seen elements of that the recent agreement with India to start doing some ship repair for ships forward based over in the Fifth Fleet. And I think Korea is really the next one Korea is the second largest shipbuilder in the world behind China. So a natural agreement, we’re seeing a Korean firm buying into Philly shipyard right now. So I think that for the United States and alignment with Korea in terms of shipbuilding and ship repairs, a natural progression.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THE MSRA ALLOWS THESE TWO KOREAN COMPANIES TO BID ON REPAIR MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS CONTRACTS. THAT’S NOT SHIPBUILDING YET. RIGHT? THAT’S, THAT’S JUST LIKE THIS BOAT NEEDS. YOU KNOW, THE HULL GOT DAMAGED. SO WE NEED TO FIX THE HULL. IT’S NOT NECESSARILY BUILDING ANYTHING AT THIS POINT. RIGHT?

{Sal Mercogliano, Host ‘What Is Going On With Shipping}

“Right. And what we’re looking at is that repair. So you know, remember, the Seventh Fleet has a huge element that’s forward deployed out in the area. We have ships permanently stationed out in Japan. And then we’re rotating ships from Pearl Harbor and San Diego out to that region. And the availability or the option to do availabilities out in Korea will increase the forward presence. And I think that’s what the US is looking at. It’s going to be very tough to build up a navy to compete with the way the Chinese navy is building right now. They are pumping out ships at a very fast rate. But the option you have is to make the assets you have more deployable In other words, you can keep them forward deployed for a longer period of time. And that’s what this agreement does. It allows you to take a ship instead of having it come back to maybe Pearl Harbor Navy base, or a shipyard on the west or east coast, you can stay forward deployed, get maintenance in and that means that a destroyer or any other type of warship may be on station for a longer period of time.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHEN I WAS READING THE PRESS RELEASES AND THE STATEMENTS FROM BOTH HANWHA AND HD HYUNDAI, YOU KNOW, IF YOU READ BETWEEN THE LINES, IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS BOTH OF THESE COMPANIES WANT MORE, MORE OF THEIR SHARE OF YOU KNOW, US NAVAL, SHIPBUILDING AND MARITIME AND ALL IT IS. DO YOU SEE THIS AS JUST KIND OF THE FIRST STEP FOR MORE INTEGRATION, YOU KNOW, 20, 20 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD? MAYBE WE HAVE ALL OF OUR SHIPS BEING BUILT IN KOREA? 

{Sal Mercogliano, Host ‘What Is Going On With Shipping}

“Well, I don’t ever foresee all our ships being built overseas. I do see the potential of Korea getting into this now. Korea has to you know, Korean Shipbuilding is much different than us shipbuilding in many ways. If you know, one of the problems that the Navy has, is you know, contracting with shipbuilding and ship repair facilities, and then changing the work order. That doesn’t happen in Korean shipyards, a bit of green shipyards, I know Korean shipyards, they don’t like that they don’t like kind of ad hoc and a no and playing it by the by the year. So that’s going to be a big culture issue that’s got to be resolved between Korea and the US and I think this is one of those first steps. Let’s see how this works. Korea is going to have to work with NAVSea Naval Sea Systems Command that’s an entity onto itself. It’s a beast within the US Navy. US shipyards are used to work in them their sole source customer is the US Navy Korea has options. They’re building ships commercially. And one of the things that Secretary Del Toro came back from is like, wow, you know, Korean shipyards are building Aegis class destroyers much cheaper than us shipyards. Well, that’s because they Korean shipyard is also building two dozen tankers, container ships and LNG carriers. So their profits aren’t based on a single destroyer. And so I think there’s going to be an element of culture here that has to be played out. ”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

LET’S EXPAND ON THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE ELEMENT OF THE CULTURE HERE IS, IS US SHIPBUILDING, THE INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE RIFE FOR SOME CULTURAL CHANGE? 

{Sal Mercogliano, Host ‘What Is Going On With Shipping} 

“I think it is. I mean, one of the things that has happened since the 1980s Is that us shipbuilding has kind of wholeheartedly embraced the US Navy. Now there was an effort that we eliminated construction subsidies within the United States for commercial shipping for international trade. So all our ships that are involved in international trade are built overseas. That meant that the shipyards after the closure of the public Navy yards, the public Navy yards that used to build ships, they don’t do it. They do repairs now. Basically, every US shipyard is now so sourced with the US Navy. And so that is a big issue. And I think there is an element of culture that can be brought in. I also think diversification is a key thing. I think one of the things that you wish shipyards can learn is commercial Shipbuilding is not a bad thing. It allows you to reach in a worker base, it allows you to enhance technology and components. Yes, a container ship is not a Navy destroyer but you still need to build a hall you still have machinery elements, there are still some key elements that you can have. So the hope here is that by cross pollinating Korean shipyards and maybe us shipyards, you get the most the best, best of both worlds. ” 

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

SAL MERCOGLIANO, IT’S BEEN A PLEASURE. AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY AND WE’LL DEFINITELY BE RINGING YOUR BELL IN THE FUTURE. 

[Sal Mercogliano]

“Thanks, Ryan. It’s great to be with you.”

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RYAN’S WRAP