Brigadier General Serhiy Holubtsov, Chief of Aviation of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Ukraine needs at least 3-4 squadrons of F-16 aircraft of 12-16 units each to advantage the invaders in a specific direction.

He said this in an interview with the Radio Liberty Donbas Realities project.

"If it is at least 3-4 squadrons, I think that in a separate direction we will be able to gain air superiority and force the enemy to abandon the blows that they are now inflicting on a certain area, in a certain defense zone," Sergei Golubtsov explained.

The brigadier general added that Russian aviation does not have superiority in the sky over Ukraine due to modern radar stations and air defense systems. However, Russia is armed with aviation capable of launching long-range missiles, which is not the case in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"If we simply had a platform capable of using, for example, American AIM-120 air-to-air missiles – they have a range of about 180 kilometers – we would simply not allow them to approach the borders at the launch distance of these missiles," Golubtsov said.

To recap, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine need 48 F-16 aircraft to protect our state from the invaders.

Serhiy Holubtsov also said that the Ukrainian military is aware that after the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine, Russia will launch missile strikes on airfields, and therefore plans are being prepared on how to protect aviation.

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