The pilots will be bringing home American doctrine, and be introduced to a wider array of weapons, tactics, and networking technology. Most importantly, in my opinion, the Soviet technology bubble has been broken and Ukraine will gain 21st century air power.
the Soviet technology bubble has been broken and Ukraine will gain 21st century air power
This is a big deal. They will be able to data link with NATO-provided AA systems like Patriot, as well as American operated AWACS flying over the Black Sea. Situational awareness is a big deal for survivability; this will be a huge upgrade for them.
It also enables the use of a whole host of new munitions. No longer will NATO munitions need to be retrofitted to a Su-34 or MiG-29 with reduced capability, but instead can be attached directly to the F-16 which already knows how to use them. The F-16 is one of the most popular export aircraft, so the work has already been done to get a wide array of munitions working 100% with it.
The pilots will be bringing home American doctrine, and be introduced to a wider array of weapons, tactics, and networking technology. Most importantly, in my opinion, the Soviet technology bubble has been broken and Ukraine will gain 21st century air power.
This is a big deal. They will be able to data link with NATO-provided AA systems like Patriot, as well as American operated AWACS flying over the Black Sea. Situational awareness is a big deal for survivability; this will be a huge upgrade for them.
It also enables the use of a whole host of new munitions. No longer will NATO munitions need to be retrofitted to a Su-34 or MiG-29 with reduced capability, but instead can be attached directly to the F-16 which already knows how to use them. The F-16 is one of the most popular export aircraft, so the work has already been done to get a wide array of munitions working 100% with it.