US and Ukrainian officials have revealed to The Wall Street Journal that a F-16 fighter jet has crashed during combat in Ukraine's skies - a significant first - which comes just weeks after an initial batch of some one dozen of the American-made aircraft were transferred to Kiev's armed forces.
"The pilot, Oleksiy Mes, died while helping to repel a massive Russian missile attack on Monday, the officials said," WSJ writes. "Initial reports indicate the jet wasn’t shot down by enemy fire, U.S. officials said."
That missile and drone attack had been one of the largest since the war's start in Feb. 2022, targeting 15 out of Ukraine's 24 oblasts, and taking out vital energy structure nationwide.
The Pentagon was initially questioned about the crash, but when referred to Kiev officials, the Ukrainian Air Force belatedly acknowledged the crash and death of the pilot on Thursday.
Given Ukraine has lost one of the $30+ million jets so quickly after getting the first highly anticipated transfer, this could prove highly embarrassing given how publicly the program was touted as a "game-changer" by Zelensky government officials.
Other more realist outside observers have noted that it is too late for such aerial systems to significantly change Russia's clear military, manpower, and aerial superiority.
According to more details of the circumstances of the aircraft downing: "A person close to the Ukrainian military said the cause of the crash was unknown and an investigation was under way," WSJ continues. "The person described Mes as a hero who successfully shot down multiple Russian missiles on Monday before the crash."
The report further indicates the pilot was key in helping spearhead Kiev's public relations and lobbying efforts to get the F-16s for Ukraine program off the ground:
Mes, call sign “Moonfish,” was one of Kyiv’s first pilots to be trained on the F-16. He was one of the better known Ukrainian pilots, appearing frequently in the media and visiting Washington to lobby the U.S. to send Ukraine the jet fighters. Mes met personally with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including in 2022 with then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R., Ill.).
Mes often appeared with another prominent Ukrainian pilot, Andriy Pilshchykov, call sign "Juice," who died in a training accident on Aug. 25, 2023. Two other pilots were killed in that incident, a midair collision.
The WSJ further calls the crash and death "a major blow for Kyiv" following President Biden's somewhat reluctant greenlight given for European allies to begin transferring the F-16s last year. A training program has been underway in Europe and on US soil for well over a year, including Ukrainian pilots receiving instruction in bases at San Antonio and in Arizona.
US defense officials have at times quietly voiced their concern over a US-overseen program which sends inexperienced Ukrainian pilots directly into a highly complex war zone where Russia has overwhelming superiority of the skies, and this after an abbreviated training program. Combat experience, however, remains a very different thing.
It was only on Tuesday that President Zelensky announced that for the first time Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets had been engaged in combat against the Russians. He said in the big Monday attack they had successfully shot down inbound missiles and drones. "We destroyed already some missiles and drones using the F-16," Zelensky said in a Tuesday press conference, specifically in comments given in English, before a press briefing - but without providing many details.
The pilots who have died in crashes thus far were some of the most well-known and experienced aviators Ukraine had to rely on.
The Kremlin and Russian media are surely going to seize on this as a major failure of the West and of NATO, and this is likely going to embolden Russia's aerial forces to go hunting for more F-16s to destroy.