"It's Something Indescribable": Slovakia Receives First Batch of New F-16 Fighters from the USA

Slovakia has received the first two of 14 new F-16 military aircraft from the United States, the delivery of which was delayed for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic and a lack of chips.

‘The F-16s take us to new dimensions, it's something indescribable,’ says Peter Gregor, commander of the Slovak F-16 squadron.

According to him, the MiG-29 and F-16 cannot be compared because they are conceptually completely different aircraft. 

‘The F-16 fighter offers completely different capabilities that the MiG-29 could not provide as such. Either it was due to the age of its production or the avionics itself. The F-16 aircraft is equipped with the most advanced technologies from radars to self-defence systems and new weapons systems,’ the commander explained.

President Peter Pellegrini had welcomed the arrival of the F-16s at the Kucina airbase in western Slovakia on Monday evening, saying the F-16s ‘will make a significant contribution to the defence capability of our country’.

Peter Pellegrini was prime minister of Slovakia in 2018 when his government signed a $1.8 billion deal to buy 14 US F-16 Block 70/72 fighter jets to replace ageing Soviet MiG-29s.

Under the previous government, Slovakia stopped using its MiGs in the summer of 2022 due to a lack of spare parts and expertise to maintain them after Russian technicians returned home following the start of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine.