F-16s for Ukraine: The Players and Their Positions

I’d like to start with an apology. Earlier in the week I had started writing the third piece on the understanding of power (ideas are evolving—more on that later) but then I had to throw all my energies into completing this piece on F-16s and Ukraine. The piece was released just a few hours ago, co-written by myself and RAF Air Marshal Edward Stinger (retd), and goes into some detail about why we believe Ukraine can indeed operate F-16s usefully and why they should be given them. We were also very pleased to get some strong quotes from USAF General Phil Breedlove (retd) who served as SACEUR and worked very closely with the Ukrainians. Phil is entirely convinced of their ability to make good use of the aircraft.

Here is a link to the article.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/ukraine-military-f-16-aircraft/674022/

As this article has taken up so much of my thought, what I will do now is delve into the subject a little more. Using some of the background information Ive been privy too, I thought I would breakdown the F-16 situation into the different players in the drama, describe what their positions are, and take a guess how this might work out.

The Players: Ukraine, USA, The Ukraine-Must-Win-Europeans

To understand the different pressures in the F-16 debate, you need to understand that there are 3 major players (of differing power abilities) who are involved in the decision. They have some very distinct positions, that are clashing at present.