NATO head Jens Stoltenberg tipped the Alliance's hand today when he told media that the F-16's being given to Ukraine by the West, "Can be used to hit targets outside of Ukraine." Read: inside Russia.
Now, the F-16 is a terrific war plane but it is NOT Stealthy. It *can* be tracked by radar and it *can* be hit by surface-to-air missiles. Russia's air defense capabilities are second to none, especially with their S-400 and still un-used S-500. So the F-16's are not likely to last very long once they are placed in service of Ukraine.
One big unknown here is which missiles those F-16's will be equipped with. They can handle long-range air-to-ground missiles, some of which have a range "in excess" of 500 miles; which would put Moscow itself within striking distance of those planes.
Another even bigger "unknown" is where those F-16's will takeoff and land?
The air fields inside Ukraine are beaten to a pulp by Russia. None of them - to my knowledge - is capable of handling the re-fueling, re-arming, and maintenance of those F-16 jets.
So the big question seems to remain, WHERE will those jets takeoff and land?
Russia has made it publicly clear that if those jets takeoff from a NATO base, and attack Russians, then the planes AND THE BASE THEY TAKEOFF FROM will be "mercilessly destroyed."
That right there opens the door to a NATO member country being able to say "We have been attacked" and invoke the NATO Collective Self Defense Treaty, Article 5.
Russia has ALSO made it publicly clear that they know NATO conventional forces are SUPERIOR to Russian conventional forces. They publicly admitted this. But Russia then ALSO said "We are a nuclear power. And our nuclear capability is superior to NATO. If Article 5, Collective Self-Defense is invoked against Russia, it will be a war that no one will win."
Those are the EXACT words they spoke.
Well, as most readers know, there is only ONE type of war that "no one will win" -- a nuclear war.
Weeks ago, RUMORS hit the intel circuits saying Ukraine had begun trucking those F-16's into the country, partially disassembled. Then, those RUMORS quieted down. There's been really no word since then, about those planes, until today's remarks by Stoltenberg.
So with the West having been training Ukraine pilots on F-16s for months, with the RUMOR MILL saying the planes are already being trucked into Ukraine, and with today's remarks by Stoltenberg, it seems we are moving very quickly toward the moment when "Ukrainian F-16's" will enter the conflict, with all the disastrous consequences that may entail.
Having spent the better part of the last two years urging all of you to get "prepped" I've grown quite tired of saying it. Those of you who bothered to get Emergency food, emergency water storage capability, emergency medicine, a generator, fuel for it, communications gear like a CB or a HAM radio . . . you've already done what needs doing. Those of you who have not gotten those things, there really isn't any hope for you at all because of your stubborn refusal to accept the coming reality.
So if this Russia-Ukraine thing becomes Russia-NATO, and the missiles start flying, those of you who took no action to prepare will get exactly what you deserve. No sympathy from me. After all, it's simply too easy to have picked up an extra box of pasta a week for $2, or an extra 10 lb. bag of rice a week ($7), or even some extra cans of Chunky or Progresso soup to pour over the pasta or rice to make a meal. Those of you who couldn't be bothered, well, no tears for you.
