Ukraine has been utilizing its fleet of F-16 multirole fighters not only to provide air defense in the rear but also actively for frontline missions. Sightings of F-16s with attack payloads have been circling on social media for quite a while now.
In the most recent example, an F-16 is depicted, judging by its arsenal, in the midst of delivering high-precision strikes on ground targets. The aircraft features BRU-61 holders mounted on two hardpoints with four GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) on each.
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A Ukrainian F-16 flying in Kyiv Oblast, over 200km from the front equipped with:-2x External Fuel Tanks-2x AMRAAM AIM-120 Air-to-Air Missiles-8x GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs-2x AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-Air Missiles-ALQ-131 Electronic Countermeasures Pod pic.twitter.com/ICqookeSeL— Ukraine Battle Map (@ukraine_map) February 16, 2025
Similar suspension systems and bombs are used from other Ukrainian aircraft, including Soviet-type types such as MiG-29 thanks to a special pylon-adapter. In the case of the F-16, of course, no additional devices are needed.
For a reminder, one SDB weighs 129 kilograms, where 93 kg is the warhead weight. The variant used by Ukrainian forces relies on satellite navigation and an inertial system for high-precision guidance but there also exist alternatives with semi-active laser guidance. Although these bombs have proven to be ineffective in the surface-launched GLSDB version, they demonstrate much more effectiveness when launched from aircraft.
In general, the Ukrainian F-16's loadout for this mission is as follows: two AIM-120 missiles for medium-range air combat on the wingtips, two AIM-9 short-range missiles on the outer underwing pylons, eight of the aforementioned SDBs, two 370-gallon (1,400-liter) fuel tanks, and an AN/ALQ-131 electronic countermeasures pod.
To be more precise, the AN/ALQ-131 on the central weapon station under the fuselage is a Northrop Grumman's electronic warfare system that is responsible for detecting radiation emitted by enemy radars and jamming them in automatic mode. This protects the fighter from air defense missile systems and radars on hostile aircraft.
Noteworthy, how the Ukrainian Air Force have been utilizing the Western fighter fully coincides with the prognoses from back in October 2023, that the complexity of the tasks in which Ukrainian F-16 pilots are involved would gradually increase as they gain real combat experience and the aircraft fleet expands.
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