Ukrainian F-16s receive from US latest version of electronic warfare systems for countering russian air defense – Defense Express

The United States has equipped Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets with a special electronic countermeasures upgrade designed to counter russian air defense systems.

The Defense Express military portal reported this with reference to the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing of the U.S. Air Force.

Thus, it is indicated that the U.S. Air Force reported that the Ukrainian F-16s received a special upgrade of radio-electronic countermeasures systems, specially introduced to counter russian air defense systems.

In particular, the work was carried out by the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing unit, which is responsible for the development, adaptation and design of tactics for the use of EW, as well as updates these systems and generally manages their development.

The press service of the unit informed that the work was carried out by specialists of the 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron, which is part of the wing.

The uniqueness of the performed works, firstly, is that they had to be carried out with equipment that is not in service with the U.S. Air Force. Defense Express noted that it is apparently an ECIPS/CJS container that was spotted on Ukrainian fighter jets.

Secondly, the difficulty was in the terms, which were very tight and were tied to the date of the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine. Meanwhile, specialists first had to investigate the real capabilities of the equipment, and then modernize its software part based on the algorithms used by the U.S. Air Force to counter russian air defense.

"We should add that the very fact of this is already quite interesting. Because it turns out that the Netherlands and Denmark, namely the planes of these countries, as mentioned, received updates, did not have access to advanced American solutions. Although it is possible that it is only a matter of interest and possibly European partners simply did not show the appropriate initiative," Defense Express drew attention.

The updates obtained as a result of the joint work of American and European specialists provided the Ukrainian F-16s with the ability to effectively suppress russian systems, which is a guarantee not only of the safety of fighters from missile attacks, but also the ability to effectively destroy russian air defense systems.

"But what is more important is that the official message directly states that the U.S. Air Force will receive information from Ukrainian colleagues regarding the use of these electronic warfare means in real combat. This will allow for further updating of the systems, and not only for Ukraine, but also for the United States and other NATO members," the military portal added.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has already deployed F-16 fighter jets to repel a massive russian attack on August 26. The Ukrainian military shot down some missiles with the help of these planes.