US F-16 jets due to arrive in Ukraine ‘are no longer relevant’, Kyiv military official says: ‘Every weapon has its right time. We needed them in 2023, they’re not right for 2024. We need shells and rockets’

American-made F-16 fighter jets due to arrive in Ukraine this summer are “no longer relevant” to the war, a senior Ukrainian military official has said, adding that “grenades and missiles” will be needed by 2024.

Ukraine’s air force is expected to take delivery of the supersonic multi-role fighter jets in July, now that pilots have been trained and the war-torn country’s airfields prepared.

Before their arrival, the F-16s were thought to be the war-winning weapon that could tip the balance in the war with Russia in Ukraine’s favor.

“Often we don’t get the weapons systems when we need them – they come when they are no longer relevant,” the senior officer told Politico.

‘Every weapon has its own right moment. F-16s were needed by 2023; they won’t be good until 2024.”

The Ukrainian Air Force is expected to take delivery of the supersonic multi-role fighter aircraft in July

It comes after Vladimir Putin warned just days ago that all F-16 fighter jets donated to Ukraine will be shot down

The US Congress has blocked a $60 billion military aid package, ultimately leading to severe ammunition shortages.

This in turn has allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army to push back Kiev’s forces along almost the entire 900-kilometre-long front line.

This has increased calls for more traditional weapons such as air defense missiles, howitzers and grenades.

“We need howitzers and grenades, hundreds of thousands of grenades and rockets,” said the officer, who estimated that Ukraine needed a total of four million grenades and two million drones.

The military official assured that they have communicated to the US that their armed forces have all the required combat experience, as well as insight into the battlefield of the war – all they need are the resources of the West.

It comes just days after Putin warned that any F-16 jets donated to Ukraine would be shot down.

“If they supply F-16s, and they talk about this and apparently train pilots, this will not change the situation on the battlefield,” Putin told Russian Air Force pilots during a tour of a training facility in Torzhok, Tver, Russia. region.

“We will destroy the plane just as we destroy tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment today, including several rocket launchers.”

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, has called on Kiev’s Western allies to prioritize sending more US Patriot defense missiles to fend off Russian air attacks on their cities.

Ahead of his arrival in Brussels to mark NATO’s 75th anniversary, Kuleba said: ‘Seven Patriot systems would be optimal, but let me be modest.

“With five Patriot batteries we can defend the most important industrial cities against Russian missiles.”

Together with the US, the Netherlands and Germany have also sent a number of these systems, each estimated to cost around 1 billion dollars.

“And once we eliminate the threat, the patriots will return to where they were stationed,” he added.

Kuleba has also demanded that “all Patriot batteries around the world that can be delivered to Ukraine are also delivered to Ukraine.”

He added that the country is currently the only country in the world that has to defend itself against ballistic missile attacks almost every day.

Following his meeting with his Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski in Brussels, NATO foreign ministers are now discussing a five-year, $100 billion military aid package for Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Wednesday: “What is clear is that we need new and more money for Ukraine, and for many years to come.

“That is one of the reasons why the Ukrainians have to ration the number of artillery shells, why they have trouble standing up with overwhelming military force against the Russian forces, because they can outmaneuver them with more ammunition and more artillery. ‘

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky has warned that tyrant Putin is preparing for a major offensive in June and plans to mobilize 300,000 troops.

Senior officers also told Politico that Putin is poised to launch a “major attack” around August, but admitted it could happen even sooner, plunging Ukraine into a crisis if they are not prepared.

One of the military sources, who remained anonymous, told the news website: ‘There is nothing that can help Ukraine now, because there are no serious technologies that can compensate Ukraine for the large mass of troops that Russia is likely to throw at us.

“We don’t have those technologies, and the West doesn’t have them in sufficient quantities either.”

In an effort to overcome the potentially large-scale obstacle, Zelensky has lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25, hoping to strengthen Ukraine’s armed forces.