US limits support for F-16 fighters transferred to Ukrainian army — Forbes

Having stopped military aid to Ukraine, the US has stopped supporting the multifunctional F-16 fighters, which began to enter service with the Ukrainian army in 2024. This concerns vital support for the F-16s’ radar jammers.

This is stated in the Forbes article.

The publication notes that the US can’t just switch off F-16 fighters provided to Ukrainians as part of a campaign to completely stop military support for Ukraine.

However, Washington has stopped vital support for installing equipment necessary for jamming on Ukrainian F-16s.

The F-16s transferred to the Ukrainian military are equipped with AN/ALQ-131 electronic countermeasure pods. They allow you to fill the screens of russian radars with "electronic noise", making air defenses less effective against Ukrainian fighters.

However, the AN/ALQ-131 pods do not provide the aircraft with infinite protection, as the russians reprogram their radars to slightly different frequencies.

Previously, the US sent specialists to Ukraine to program the AN/ALQ-131 pods. With their support, the Ukrainian military could "keep pace" with the russians, constantly adjusting the frequencies. However, now Ukrainian pilots are "stuck" with units whose programs may soon become obsolete.

The author of the article writes that in the long term, the Ukrainian military could re-equip their F-16s with other electronic warfare equipment not made in the US. But this may take time and money.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on March 4, US President Donald Trump ordered the suspension of all military aid to Ukraine. According to media reports, this was a response to a public quarrel with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

And on March 5, it became known that the United States had stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, which helped the Ukrainian army to more effectively confront the army of the aggressor country, russia.

According to media reports, the cessation of intelligence sharing between the United States and Ukraine rendered the HIMARS systems, which the Ukrainian military used to strike russian targets far from the front line, unusable.

In addition, Maxar Technologies blocked Ukraine's access to satellite images after the United States instructed it to do so.