{"id":1486783,"date":"2024-08-29T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1486783"},"modified":"2024-08-29T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T23:00:00","slug":"first-us-made-f16-jet-downed-in-ukraine-during-combat-pilot-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/first-us-made-f16-jet-downed-in-ukraine-during-combat-pilot-killed\/1486783\/","title":{"rendered":"First US-Made F16 Jet Downed In Ukraine During Combat, Pilot Killed"},"content":{"rendered":"

First US-Made F16 Jet Downed In Ukraine During Combat, Pilot Killed<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

US and Ukrainian officials have revealed to The Wall Street Journal<\/em> that a F-16 fighter jet has crashed during combat in Ukraine’s skies – a significant first – which comes just weeks after an initial batch of some one dozen of the American-made aircraft were transferred to Kiev’s armed forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The pilot, Oleksiy Mes, died while helping to repel a\u00a0massive Russian missile attack\u00a0on Monday<\/strong>, the officials said,” WSJ<\/a> writes. “Initial reports indicate the jet wasn\u2019t shot down by enemy fire, U.S. officials said.”<\/p>\n

Illustrative photo: Ukrainian pilots complete F-16 training in the United States, Getty Images<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

That missile and drone attack had been one of the largest since the war’s start in Feb. 2022, targeting 15 out of Ukraine’s 24 oblasts, and taking out vital energy structure nationwide.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon was initially questioned about the crash, but when referred to Kiev officials, the Ukrainian Air Force belatedly acknowledged the crash and death of the pilot on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Given Ukraine has lost one of the $30+ million jets so quickly after getting the first highly anticipated transfer<\/strong>, this could prove highly embarrassing given how publicly the program was touted as a “game-changer” by Zelensky government officials.<\/p>\n

Other more realist outside observers have noted that it is too late for such aerial systems to significantly change Russia’s clear military, manpower, and aerial superiority.<\/p>\n

According to more details of the circumstances of the aircraft downing: “A person close to the Ukrainian military said the cause of the crash was unknown and an investigation was under way,” WSJ continues. “The person described Mes as a hero who successfully shot down multiple Russian missiles on Monday before the crash<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

The report further indicates the pilot was key in helping spearhead Kiev’s public relations and lobbying efforts to get the F-16s for Ukraine program off the ground<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mes, call sign \u201cMoonfish,\u201d was one of Kyiv\u2019s first pilots to be trained on the F-16. He was one of the better known Ukrainian pilots, appearing frequently\u00a0in the media<\/a>\u00a0and visiting Washington to lobby <\/strong>the U.S. to send Ukraine the jet fighters.\u00a0Mes met personally with lawmakers on Capitol Hill,\u00a0including in 2022<\/a>\u00a0with then-Rep.\u00a0Adam Kinzinger\u00a0(R., Ill.).<\/em><\/p>\n

Mes often appeared with another prominent Ukrainian pilot, Andriy Pilshchykov, call sign “Juice,” who died in a training accident<\/strong> on Aug. 25, 2023. Two other pilots were killed in that incident, a midair collision.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The WSJ further calls the crash and death “a major blow for Kyiv”<\/strong> following President Biden’s somewhat reluctant greenlight given for European allies to begin transferring the F-16s last year. A training program has been underway in Europe and on US soil for well over a year, including Ukrainian pilots receiving instruction in bases at San Antonio and in Arizona.<\/p>\n

According to U.S. Defense Officials; during Monday\u2019s Large-Scale Russian Missile Attack against Ukraine, a F-16 with the Ukrainian Air Force crashed in the West of the Country, resulting in the Death of its Pilot, known by his Callsign \u201cMoonfish\u201d but by others as Oleksiy Mes.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/vUcvWslIQx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) August 29, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

US defense officials have at times quietly voiced their concern over a US-overseen program which sends inexperienced Ukrainian pilots directly into a highly complex war zone <\/strong>where Russia has overwhelming superiority of the skies, and this after an abbreviated training program. Combat experience, however, remains a very different thing.<\/p>\n

It was only on Tuesday that President Zelensky\u00a0announced that for the first time Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets had been engaged in combat against the Russians. He said in the big Monday attack they had successfully shot down inbound missiles and drones.\u00a0“We destroyed already some missiles and drones using the F-16,”<\/strong>\u00a0Zelensky\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in a Tuesday press conference, specifically in comments given in English, before a press briefing – but without providing many details.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The pilots who have died in crashes thus far were some of the most well-known and experienced aviators Ukraine had to rely on.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Kremlin and Russian media are surely going to seize on this as a major failure of the West and of NATO, and this is likely going to embolden Russia’s aerial forces to go hunting for more F-16s to destroy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nThu, 08\/29\/2024 – 15:00<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/first-us-made-f16-jet-downed-ukraine-during-combat-pilot-killed<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First US-Made F16 Jet Downed In Ukraine During Combat, Pilot Killed US and Ukrainian officials have revealed to The Wall Street Journal that a F-16…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1486784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1486783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1486783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1486784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1486783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1486783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1486783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}