“The cause of the F-16 crash could be damage from the debris of a downed Russian missile – Breaking Defense September 20, 21:37 Share: F-16 (Photo:REUTERS/Jana Rodenbusch) The cause of the F-16 crash, during which Ukrainian pilot Oleksiy Mes died, could be damage to the engine by fragments of a downed missile. This was reported by the Breaking Defense portal on Friday, September 20, citing sources in the Ukrainian defense environment. As noted in the material, one of the versions”, — write on: ua.news
F-16 (Photo: REUTERS/Jana Rodenbusch)
The cause of the F-16 crash, during which the Ukrainian pilot Oleksiy Mes was killed, could have been damage to the engine by fragments of a downed missile. This was reported by the Breaking Defense portal on Friday, September 20, citing sources in the Ukrainian defense environment.
As noted in the material, one of the versions of the tragedy is that the F-16 fighter accidentally flew through a cloud of debris from an intercepted and shot down Russian missile. Thus, debris could damage the engine and other parts of the aircraft.
Breaking Defense writes that this version is one of the most likely, since, according to the source, Ukraine has already lost four fighters for the same reason – two MiG-29s and two Sus.
The loss of the first F-16. The Air Force has already understood the causes of the disaster, now they are preparing an option that will “satisfy society” – an aviation expert
The source noted that previously such losses did not attract such attention, because they were “not expensive, modern fighters.”
Earlier, in an interview with CNN, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky reported that a special commission of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is conducting an investigation to find out all the facts of the F-16 fighter jet crash. He emphasized that the pilots were well trained, which was also confirmed by Ukraine’s partners.
The loss of the first F-16 and the death of the pilot Oleksiy Mesia — what is known
On August 29, the General Staff of the Armed Forces confirmed the loss of one F-16 fighter. Western aircraft were used to repel a massive Russian missile-drone attack on August 26, which became the largest since the beginning of the war in terms of the number of air targets (The Russian Federation used 127 missiles and 109 attack UAVs, 102 missiles and 99 missiles were shot down).
The Ukrainian pilot who died during the F-16 crash turned out to be 30-year-old lieutenant colonel Oleksiy Mes with the call sign Moonfish (Moonfish). Oleksiy Mes destroyed three cruise missiles and one UAV while repelling a massive Russian attack.
On August 30, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the dismissal of the commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Mykola Oleshchuk, without giving a specific reason. And later, on September 5, he announced that the details of the disaster will be known after the investigation is completed.