Fired 45 Missiles in One Night: F-16 Technicians Emphasize Importance of Partner Assistance

Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets operating from one of the airfields fired 45 missiles in just one night.

The technicians who equip the F-16s told about this in a story by the Air Force.

According to the technicians, nowadays it is very often necessary to use operational airfields, mostly at night.

The main task of the ground staff is to quickly and smoothly release the aircraft, get the pilot on board, and take cover. This is hard and intense work due to “a shortage of people, a shortage of certain supplies and various weapons.”

“There were times when we fired 45 missiles at night from just one location. It lasted all night,” an engineer of an aircraft weapons squadron that maintains F-16s said in the story.

In addition, the airfields are under constant threat of bombardment, and ground personnel need to maintain the aircraft even when under threat of attack.

“There have been situations where even after we launched the plane, a Shahed flew overhead, and we literally had just enough time to run for cover, and there was an explosion 100 meters away,” said a senior F-16 aviation technician.

In October, it became known that F-16s, which were transferred to Ukraine as part of military aid, provide about 80% of all combat sorties of the Ukrainian Air Force.