They have additional equipment: analysts talked about the advantages of the F-16 from the Netherlands

According to Defense Express experts, all F-16s promised to Ukraine from the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Belgium were produced on the same and the same factories, but the aircraft from the Netherlands were modernized with hanging containers, EW units and aiming stations.

The first batch of F-16 fighters from the Netherlands has additional equipment compared to previously received aircraft of the same type from Denmark . Defense Express writes about it.

The experts explained that all the F-16s promised to Ukraine from the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Belgium were produced around the same time at the same factories, between the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 90s.

< p>“All these machines in the 90s and 2000s underwent Mid-Life Update – MLU upgrades, reaching the level of M6.5 with the integration of high-precision weapons for hitting ground targets, improvement of the main onboard systems, including radar, software etc.”, — it says in the material.

At the same time, according to analysts, a significant part of the functionality of the F-16 depends on additional equipment — outboard containers equipped with fighters from the Netherlands: in particular, MARS and Reccelite reconnaissance containers, ALQ-131 EW units, as well as Lantirn, Litening AT and Sniper aiming stations.

“Some of them objectively have quite of great importance in the current conditions. For example, the ALQ-131 from Northrop Grumman. This container is responsible for fixing the exposure of enemy radars, both on the ground and in the air,” — noted in Defense Express.

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Journalists also specified that some of the Dutch F-16s were equipped with ECIPS/CJS pylons, which provides threat warning and countermeasures against enemy missiles that pose a threat to the fighter.

Other additional equipment has a minimal role. For example, the Lantirn, Litening AT and Sniper containers are necessary for high-precision attack on ground targets, including by illuminating them with a laser.

“But now Ukrainian aircraft are carrying out strikes with guided bombs from the camber mode at ranges of 40 km, and therefore the F-16 will definitely not engage in target illumination. At the same time, these machines can definitely “tow” SBD and JDAM-ER”, — it says in the material.

Some containers are already conceptually outdated, for example, MARS, which contained cameras and allowed for aerial photography. This container is a variation of the American Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System and was manufactured by the Danish Per Udsen, now known as Terma. But to replace it, the Netherlands bought the newest Reccelite.

This container, according to experts, not only provides target detection with the help of powerful cameras, but is also equipped with a SAR radar that allows you to detect ground objects at any time. -what weather conditions, as well as carry out high-precision mapping of the area. But there is a certain problem with him — it is from Israel's Rafael, that is, its transfer requires a re-export permit.

Analysts emphasized that the modern versions of the F-16 themselves support the integration of other containers that can expand the functionality of the machine even more.