After a few months of success with air force pilots and rear gunners with shotguns taking out Russian drones in a Yak-52, the Ukraine military is now training pilots and gunners to use the rag-and-tube A-22 to do the same. Previously the light sport aircraft (LSA) have been used as single-use flying bombs and have taken out some high-value targets. 

According to Forbes, Russian bloggers say it’s time to do something about the new role and its inspiration.

“The Yak-52 flew over Odessa and with high efficiency shot down our reconnaissance UAVs for a week, causing laughter in some circles,” Forbes quoted a translation of the blogs as saying. “This has not been funny to UAV operators and us for a long time.”

What, exactly, the Russians might do to counteract the low-and-slow platforms wasn’t discussed on the blog. The Yak has reportedly taken out 12 drones that cost about $100,000 each.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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The first-of-its-kind competition, dubbed “Ramstein 1v1,” challenged combat pilots from the U.S., U.K., Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, and Germany.

The meeting was assembled in light of Russian ground gains in Ukraine during the third year of the war that rages at “NATO’s doorstep,” the Air Force Times reported. The allied nations’ air forces envision a need to sharpen air-to-air combat skills as tensions with Russia and China threatened to boil over to a shooting war that would put some of the world’s most advanced air forces head-to-head for the first time in decades.

Aircraft on the ramp at Ramstein included U.S.-built F-35A Lightnings, F-16 Fighting Falcons, F/A-18s, and A-4 Skyhawks, as well as Eurofighter Typhoons and French Dassault Rafales.

“Basic fighter maneuvering is a foundational skill set for fighter pilots,” Lieutenant Colonel Michael Loringer, U.S. Air Force-Europe (USAFE) chief of weapons and tactics, said in a statement. “It tests a pilot’s reaction time, physical stamina, and situational awareness. There is no better way to build trust in a pilot’s aircraft or a pilot’s skills than to engage one-on-one.”

“We don’t want to go to war with Russia, and I don’t think they want to go to war with us, either,” USAFE Commander General James Hecker told the Air Force Times last July. “But we need to make sure that we have the forces capable of deterring them so that nothing bad will happen.”

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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“Don’t worry. There will definitely be airplanes for Ukraine,” Ole Egberg Mikkelsen, Denmark’s ambassador to Ukraine, told Ukrainian news outlet Mi-Ukraina on Sunday, according to Newsweek.

The confirmation comes days after the Nordic country marked the sale of two dozen of its F-16s to Argentina. Last month, Denmark announced it planned to divest its F-16 fleet as it modernizes with F-35s.

“In Denmark, we are about to change the generation of our fleet of combat aircraft with new F-35 aircraft,” Troels Lund Poulsen, Danish minister of defense, said April 16. “Therefore, I am very pleased that the Danish F-16 aircraft, which have served us well over the years and have been thoroughly maintained and technologically updated, are now being used in the Argentine Air Force. With the deal, we are strengthening the Danish-Argentinian defense cooperation, at the same time as Argentina becomes part of the global F-16 family.”

In late March, Poulsen outlined that Denmark would be donating 19 F-16s to Ukraine, where officials have long sought access to the fighter jet in order to modernize its air force and improve its defense ability following Russia’s invasion in 2022.

The first F-16 aircraft are expected to be delivered to Ukraine this summer.

“It is difficult to set a fixed timetable for the donation of F-16 fighter jets, because there are several conditions that must be met in order for Ukraine to use the donated aircraft,” Poulsen said in late February. 

• READ MORE: Norway to Send F-16s to Denmark for Ukrainian Pilot Training

Last week, the Netherlands delivered three F-16s to the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC) in Romania for Ukrainian pilot training, Reuters reported.

Russia President Vladimir Putin contends that the F-16 “would not change the situation in Ukraine” and has vowed that the aircraft will be shot down by Russian military forces.

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The aviators graduated from elementary flight training Friday and were recognized in a ceremony marking the milestone. 

• READ MORE: First Ukrainian Pilots Expected to Finish U.S. F-16 Training By Summer

“RAF flying instructors have taught the pilots general handling, instrument flying, low-level navigation, and advanced formation flying to prepare the pilots for advanced fast jet flying training prior to F-16 conversion with coalition partners,” the RAF said. “On the ground they completed an aviation medicine course and high G-force centrifuge training. Babcock provided the Grob Tutor aircraft along with technical and operational support. Together with the RAF team they completed the training ahead of time with 100 percent aircraft availability.”

The pilots will now progress to advanced fast jet training and conversion to the F-16 with partner nations from the Air Force Capability Coalition, the RAF said.

At least a dozen Ukrainian pilots continue to train with the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard (ANG) at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, with the first four expected to finish by May.

“I would like to congratulate these brave pilots on completing their initial training here in the U.K.,” British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said during Friday’s event. “Thanks to the world-renowned skills of the RAF, they have received some of the best training available and are now a step closer to joining the fight against [Russia President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion.”

• READ MORE: First Ukrainian F-16 Pilots Finish Training in UK

On Wednesday, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the Netherlands will be supplying Ukraine with advanced reconnaissance drones, as well as 350 million euros for F-16 ammunition, Reuters reported. The country, along with Denmark and the U.S., are planning to deliver the first of dozens of the fighters to Ukraine this summer.

Ukrainian defense officials have long sought access to the aircraft following Russia’s invasion in 2022.

“The conflict in Ukraine highlights the importance of air and space power, and the need to gain and maintain control of the air to defeat an enemy,” Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, RAF’s chief of the air staff, said during the ceremony. “I salute the courage and determination of these Ukrainian pilots.”

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NATO’s 50 million euro ($54.3 million) investment took five years to complete and included renovations to the base’s control tower, runways, hangars, and storage facilities. The project marks one of the alliance’s largest investments in Albania, which joined the alliance in 2009.

The airfield, which is located about 50 miles south of the country’s capital of Tirana, is set to serve Albania while also supporting NATO logistics, training and exercises.

• READ MORE: NATO Conducts ‘Find, Fix, Track, Target’ Exercise Over Poland 

The airbase’s reopening and resumption of aircraft operations was celebrated in a ceremony Monday, marking NATO’s increased footing in the region. During the event, pairs of U.S. F-16s and F-35s flew overhead while two Italian Eurofighters landed on the newly resurfaced runway. Albania, which does not operate fighter jets, participated by landing its Bayraktar TB2 drones.

“This is a base that (will add) another element of security for our Western Balkans region, which we all know that it is a region endangered from the threat and neo-imperialist ambitions of the Russian Federation,” Albania Prime Minister Edi Rama said during the event, according to a Reuters report.

• READ MORE: NATO Air Forces Conduct Aerial Combat Drills Over Estonia

Said Dylan White, NATO acting spokesperson, in a statement: “The airbase will serve as an important NATO air hub. The makeover of Kuçova Air Base is a strategic investment and shows that NATO continues to strengthen its presence in the Western Balkans, an area of strategic importance to the alliance.”

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The move comes less than two weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy created a separate military branch devoted to unmanned system forces.

The small, multirotor Teledyne FLIR SkyRanger drones are manufactured in Waterloo, Ontario. They feature automated and autonomous navigation systems, which allow them to deploy surveillance for detecting and identifying enemy targets. They are also capable of carrying up to nearly 8 pounds of payload, including munitions.

• READ MORE: International Coalition to Supply Ukraine with Thousands of Drones

“These drones are critical for surveillance and intelligence gathering and can also be used to transport and deliver supplies,” the Canadian government said in a statement. “Canada is working with Ukraine on a training plan and delivery schedule, with delivery expected to begin this spring.”

Canada’s $95 million donation in military gear comes less than a week after it also pledged $60 million for setting up Ukraine’s F-16 fighter capability through supplies, spare parts, avionics, and ammunition.

• READ MORE: Canada Pledges $60 Million for Ukraine F-16s

“As we approach the second anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion, Canada stands firmly with Ukraine in defense of freedom and democracy,” said Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of national defense, in a statement. “In coordination with our allies and partners, we will continue to provide Ukraine with the military aid that it needs to fight and win this war. [This] announcement ensures that Ukraine has the drones it needs to detect and identify targets which are critical to Ukraine’s ongoing fight. Canada will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

Following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, drones have provided a force multiplier for Ukrainian forces.

• READ MORE: Industry Minister: Ukraine on Track to Make 1M Drones in 2024

Earlier this week, for example, Ukrainian drone operators located a warehouse in southern Ukraine that housed Russian army T-72 and T-80 tanks prepositioned for a planned offensive. The drone pilots flew the armed drones through the warehouse doors left open and “systematically demolished the vehicles inside,” Forbes reported.

The war has turned Ukraine into a “giant war lab and confirmed the status of drones as the weapons of the future,” an Atlantic Council report said Wednesday. “With Ukraine no longer assured of further military aid from the U.S. and increasingly obliged to ration ammunition, drones are a cost-effective solution that plays to the country’s tech sector strengths.”

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The drone capability coalition will operate within the framework of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group—a coalition of more than 50 countries tasked with coordinating military aid for Ukraine—which met in Brussels on Wednesday. The announcement comes two months after Latvia announced its role in spearheading  the coalition as part of a growing list of aid funneling into Ukraine two years after Russia launched its invasion.

“We are grateful to our British partners for their unwavering support. Drones play a vital role in modern warfare—they detect and destroy Russian armored vehicles, personnel, and even ships,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

• READ MORE: Latvia to Spearhead Drone Coalition to Bolster Ukraine

While officials did not immediately say how many drones would be delivered, Latvian defense minister Andris Spruds indicated the coalition’s eventual target.

“With [Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s minister of defense,] we will work towards the goal of delivering one million drones to Ukraine,” Spruds said Thursday in a message on X.

On land and at sea we’ve seen the impact drones are having in Ukraine.

That’s why, as the largest supplier of drones to Ukraine, the UK will lead an international coalition to get thousands more onto the battlefield pic.twitter.com/cnpEl5twGG

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) February 15, 2024

Under the new initiative, the U.K. will scale up and streamline provision of first person view (FPV) drones to Ukraine. 

The FPV drone capability of providing situational awareness to operators has been considered highly effective in targeting enemy positions, according to British military officials.

“The U.K. continues to do all we can to give Ukraine what it needs—upping our aid to 2.5 billion [pounds] this year and committing 200 million [pounds] to manufacture drones, making us Ukraine’s largest drone supplier,” U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said.

• READ MORE: Canada Pledges $60 Million For Ukraine F-16s 

“We know, of course, that drones are very important in this war,” Dutch Defense Minister Kasja Ollongren told Reuters. “That’s why we are joining the drone coalition that Ukraine has started together with Latvia, together with other countries, to make sure that we do just that—increase production, use the latest technology, and provide exactly what Ukraine needs.”

The race to production hasn’t gone unnoticed by Russia. On Thursday, Russian defense company Izhevsk Unmanned Systems, maker of Kub and Tachyon drones, said it was expanding its production facility and adding 360 jobs in order to ramp up output of its drones “10 times in 2024,” TASS Russian news agency reported.

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“Specifically, the funds will help source vitally needed F-16 supplies and equipment such as spare parts, weapons stations, avionics, and ammunition,” the Canadian government said in a statement. 

The pledge comes on the heels of Canada’s announcement in January that in the next year it will provide an additional $15 million in civilian flight instructors, aircraft and contracted support staff, as well as English-language training to Ukrainian Air Force personnel. Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Canada said it has provided more than  $2.4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. 

• READ MORE: Norway to Send F-16s to Denmark for Ukrainian Pilot Training 

Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of national defense, first made the announcement while participating in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of more than 50 countries that meet regularly to coordinate military aid for Ukraine, which met in Brussels on Wednesday. The contribution is part of $500 million in military assistance announced by Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June.

“As brave Ukrainian soldiers fight for their country’s freedom and sovereignty, Canadians stand with them,” Blair said in a statement. “Through the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, more than 50 countries are also working together to provide Ukraine with the tools that it needs to win. Canada is committed to deepening coordination and cooperation with allies and partners as we work together to strengthen our support for Ukraine’s self-defense and protect the rules-based international order.”

Since February 2022, the international coalition has committed more than $85 billion in military aid to Ukraine, U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday.

• READ MORE: Netherlands Stops F-16 Sale to U.S. Firm, Pledges Fighters to Ukraine

“Later this month, we’ll mark two years since the Kremlin launched its reckless war of imperial aggression against Ukraine,” Austin said in a statement following the group’s meeting. “When [Russia President Vladimir] Putin ordered his unprovoked and indefensible invasion, he assumed that Ukraine’s forces would collapse—and that Ukraine’s friends would cower. But Ukraine’s troops have fought like lions, and countries of conscience from around the world have raced to get Ukraine’s back”

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The aircraft are in addition to 18 Dutch fighters intended for the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC) that opened in November to train Ukrainian and Romanian pilots.

“The Netherlands Ministry of Defence is readying 6 additional F-16 fighter aircraft for delivery to Ukraine,” Kajsa Ollongren, defense minister of the Netherlands, said Monday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This brings the total number to 24 F-16s. [Ukraine’s] aerial superiority is essential for countering Russian aggression.”

• READ MORE: European F-16 Training Center Opens in Romania

The move to send the F-16s to Ukraine comes as a result of the Netherlands’ recent fleet modernization to more advanced fighters.

“For years, the F-16 formed the most important part of the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s strike force. This role has now been taken over by the F-35. All F-16s are disposed of,” defense officials said in a statement.

According to the Dutch defense ministry, the Netherlands had been in discussion to sell the six fighters to Draken International, a Lakeland, Florida- based aerospace and defense company, but had withdrawn the aircraft from sale.

• READ MORE: Norway to Send F-16s to Denmark for Ukrainian Pilot Training 

“The Netherlands had made agreements with the international company in 2021 for the sale of 12 F-16s,” the Dutch Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday. “With these aircraft, Draken would expand its own fleet with fourth-generation aircraft. The company wants to compete for orders and tenders. However, this sale did not go through, after which the Netherlands offered Draken the opportunity to purchase six F-16s in the future. This would happen under conditions yet to be determined. Now that the talks with Draken have ended, this is no longer the case.”

In August, Denmark pledged to send 19 F-16s to Ukraine in three batches that would be fully delivered in 2025.

Two Norwegian F-16s will also soon be sent to Denmark for Ukrainian fighter pilot training, Bjørn Arild Gram, Norway’s defense minister, said last month.

• READ MORE: Russia Will Down F-16s Pledged to Ukraine, Defense Minister Vows

+ 6 F-16 from Netherland

"The 6 aircraft will now be added to the 18 F-16s that are being prepared for delivery to Ukraine." @DefensieMin @Defensie

Nederland bedankt!
pic.twitter.com/due9xVdi0V

— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) February 5, 2024

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The rehearsal—referred to as “Steadfast Defender 24″—aims to demonstrate how U.S. forces and the alliance would reinforce the Euro-Atlantic during a “simulated emerging conflict scenario against a near-peer adversary,” NATO said. The exercise includes more than 80 air platforms, including F-35 Lightning IIs, F/A-18 Hornets, Harriers, F-15 Eagles, helicopters, and uncrewed aerial vehicles.

• READ MORE: NATO Says Allied Forces Intercepted More Than 300 Russian Aircraft in 2023.

The maneuvers represent a “record number of troops that we can bring to bear and have an exercise within that size, across the alliance, across the ocean from the U.S. to Europe,” Admiral Rob Bauer, chair of the NATO Military Committee, said in a PBS report.

The exercise is the largest since the Cold War and largely seen as a show of force meant to send a signal of deterrence to Russia.

• READ MORE: NATO to Modernize AWACS Fleet with Boeing E-7A

“For the first time in 30 years, we have the strategy—deterrence and defense of the Euro-Atlantic area—and we have the plans to make the Alliance fit for the purpose of collective territorial defense,” General Christopher Cavoli, the supreme allied commander in Europe, said Thursday. “We are now in the process of making our plans executable. This means making sure we have the force commitments, command and control arrangements, and the enablement our plans require.”

• READ MORE: NATO Ramps Up Maritime Air Patrols in Baltic Sea

While NATO did not reference Russia directly, the rehearsal of U.S. forces supporting allies on the eastern flank prompted a rebuke from a top Russian official Sunday, according to Reuters.

NATO’s new defence plans will strengthen and modernise our force structure to protect and defend every inch of Allied territory

These plans will be tested and put to action during exercise #SteadfastDefender24 pic.twitter.com/HpEw7ftfEj

— NATO (@NATO) January 22, 2024

“These exercises are another element of the hybrid war unleashed by the West against Russia,”  Alexander Grushko, Russia’s deputy foreign minister,  told Russian state news agency RIA, according to a Reuters report. “An exercise of this scale…marks the final and irrevocable return of NATO to the Cold War schemes, when the military planning process, resources, and infrastructure are being prepared for confrontation with Russia.”

“Steadfast Defender 24” is scheduled to run through the end of May.

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