The Ukrainian Air Force has once again proven its professionalism and high level of training. On December 13, during a large-scale missile attack, a Ukrainian pilot did what seemed impossible: he destroyed six cruise missiles using only four aircraft missiles. This unique case was the first in world history for F-16 aircraft.
First, the pilot successfully shot down four of the four targets with his air-to-air missiles. Then he decided to try to shoot down another one with the aircraft cannon, and he succeeded - at the same time he shot down two missiles flying nearby, although he thought there was only one.
At the same time, the pilot risked his life and the F-16 aircraft, because to do this he had to get close to the missiles, which is "extremely dangerous - in the event of a 450 kg warhead detonating, there is a great risk for the aircraft to at least fly into a cloud of debris.".
"The pilot understood this, he knew how dangerous it was, how he was risking his life, and how to act correctly in this situation, because he had recently undergone retraining on the F-16 in the USA," the Armed Forces statement said.
