“For the first time in history": Ukrainian F-16 pilot destroys six cruise missiles in one combat mission

This is stated in the message of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

They claim to have “one hundred percent confirmation of the fact based on the results of objective control”.

It should be noted that, during the massive attack on Ukraine on the morning of December 13, the Russians launched almost 200 enemy drones, ballistic missiles, and 94 air-, sea-, and land-based cruise missiles.

Cruise missiles are the main target for fighter jets. Ukrainian F-16s have only four air-to-air missiles: medium- and short-range.

The unnamed pilot, having seen a group of cruise missiles, destroyed two of them with longer-range missiles. Then the pilot had to get closer to about two miles to use shorter-range missiles. Both were successful.

As the pilot followed the command from the control center and moved back to the designated area, another enemy target came on his course, apparently heading toward Kyiv. He reported back to the ground that he was ready to engage, but the F-16 was only armed with a rapid-fire aircraft cannon.

“I realized that there were few chances to hit a missile flying at 650 km+. First, we had to find it in the sky, level it out and fire at it from a distance of no more than 500 meters. And flying closer is extremely dangerous — if a 450-kg warhead detonates, there is a great risk for the aircraft to at least fly into a cloud of debris,” the pilot said.

In the United States, pilots learned how to shoot down air targets with an aircraft gun exclusively on simulators. In a real flight, Ukrainian F-16 pilots have never used the cannon against missiles.

“I did everything as the instructors in the US taught me, as I practiced on the simulator. A few rounds from the cannon and there was an explosion… then another one! A second detonation, I thought. But as it turned out, according to the results of objective control, there were two missiles,” the pilot said.

The Air Force explains that they were flying in a “stack”, next to each other. Russian troops often launch them in such a tactical configuration — a whole group of enemy missiles can fly close to each other so that the enemy sees them as one target.

“What is the result? According to the results of objective control, we have one hundred percent confirmation of the fact that for the first time in history, an American F-16 fighter jet shoots down six cruise missiles in an anti-aircraft battle, two of them with an aircraft gun. And it was done by a Ukrainian,” the Air Force said.

Yurii Ihnat, a representative of the Ukrainian Air Force, noted that the pilot was greeted with applause and ovations at the airfield. The Americans were “pleasantly surprised”.