Former US F-16 Pilot: The Russian Su-35 Is A Trash Fighter Jet
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Former US F-16 pilot Dan Hampton calls the Russian Su-35 a trash fighter. Photo/REUTERS
KIEV – A former United States (US) F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter pilot mocked the Su-35 fighter jet which he considered to be trash if the two planes were compared.
“The Su-35 is a typical Russian machine that looks good, but deep down, it’s not a good plane,” retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Dan Hampton told Voice of America, which was launched Saturday (18/3/2023).
“It looks good at the air show, but my personal opinion is trash,” he said.
Both the Su-35 and F-16 are multi-role fighters, mostly single-seat.
Russia’s Su-35s have been used in Moscow’s war against Kiev, but NATO-standard F-16 fast jets have yet to take to the skies over Ukraine.
The US has so far rejected repeated requests from Kiev to send F-16 fighter jets.
Earlier this week, Poland confirmed it would send MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, and on Friday, Slovakia said 13 MiG-29 fighter jets would arrive in Ukraine.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said; “The Warsaw decision does not change our calculations with respect to the F-16.”
On the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, US President Joe Biden said he was ruling out delivering F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine for now. “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, doesn’t need F-16s now,” he said at the time.
