Why Are American F-35A Fighter Planes Flying Over Ukraine?

Does Singapore's Minister of Defense Want to Guarantee the Purchase of 8 Additional F-35s in the Parament?

Recently, there have been some news in the Singapore and Spanish press about US F-35 warplanes flying over Ukrainian territory. The starting point of the news was the statement made by Singaporean Minister of Defense Ng Eng Hen: "American F-35s are actively involved in missions related to Ukraine." description is shown. The saying 'there is no smoke without fire' comes to mind.

The statement was made by Ng Eng Hen during a session of the Parliamentary Public Procurement Committee. Singapore had decided to purchase an additional eight F-35A fighter jets from Lockheed Martin. Minister Ng Eng Hen's statement may have been made partly to convince the Singapore public why this purchasing decision is important and to ensure that the budget approval required for the procurement passes through the parliament without any obstacles. Singapore purchased 12 American F-35Bs in 2020. With this purchase, it wants to increase the number of F-35s in its total inventory to 20.

When I read the statements used by the Singapore Minister of Defense, I find that this statement is likely to be true. According to the minister, the purpose of F-35 flight missions is to determine the exact location of Russian anti-aircraft and missile systems. “In its recent activities, the United States mobilized its F-35s to detect the deployment of Russian anti-aircraft missile systems in Ukraine. "The collected intelligence is then distributed to NATO countries," he said.

This statement attracts attention as the first information or assumption confirming that F-35s were used to support Ukraine. There was previously news on BugarianMilitary.com, a Bulgarian website, based on the statements of an American pilot, about the existence of 'F-35' flights over Ukraine, which was disclosed by the Singapore Minister of Defense. The pilot stated that he flew F-35s during his time in Europe and that he was on duty to determine the location of the Russian S-300 system located near the Belarus-Ukraine border. In fact, the pilot did not say that he was flying over Ukraine, but he was stating that F-35s were flying over other countries and that they were trying to locate Russian air defense systems within the framework of intelligence needs.

On the other hand, although this 'information' allegedly disclosed by the American pilot could perhaps be seen as open intelligence, it actually pointed to a known situation. When we look at the intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance (ISR) capabilities of the F-35, as previously stated by Israel's former Air Force Commander, F-35s are better than many ISR platforms. It can serve as an airborne intelligence provider. The sensors it has also make the F-35 a good intelligence gathering tool.

F-35A's Basing and Their Use in Europe

After the Russia-Ukraine War, the USA; It keeps at least 6 F-35 aircraft ready at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany. American Air Force squadrons use this base on rotational assignments. The mission assigned to the F-35s in this area is to carry out ELINT (electronic intelligence) activities, which determine the location of Russia's anti-aircraft and air defense missile systems that may pose a threat to Eastern Europe and NATO aircraft, to be used in possible NATO operations, and to use as many electronic devices as possible. was determined to collect data. Likewise, I evaluate that the F-35A aircraft deployed from time to time in Estonia, Lithuania and Romania are similarly expected to primarily perform ISR missions. In addition, the mobility of Russian mobile air defense systems stationed in Belarus must be monitored, and Russian mobile threats are actively monitored as well as detected and diagnosed.

In addition, using SAR radar, the movements of Russian Land Forces elements on the front can be displayed as a SAR map by the F-35. Tanks, armored combat vehicles, anti-aircraft guns, artillery batteries, supply vehicles, etc. followable. Since this type of information will be valuable intelligence information that 'makes the invisible visible', especially for the Ukrainian command staff, it is obvious that they will need this information in their attacks or defensive operations against the Russians. Undoubtedly, the intelligence information provided by other aircraft and UAVs flying over the Black Sea for surveillance purposes is also important, but since the uninterrupted tactical intelligence and reconnaissance information provided by the F-35A sensors will flow focused on more specific targets, it will be seen as a more valuable information flow for the Ukrainian Army.

As a result, the USA continues its preliminary preparations with F-35s for a possible war and can meet Ukraine's urgent intelligence needs indirectly, without the need to use Ukrainian territory. In this context, the headline "American F-35s are flying over Ukraine to locate Russian anti-aircraft missile systems!" published by the Russian newspaper Pravda EN and the Spanish newspaper La Razón is suspicious, although not always. And from time to time, I consider that it 'might be true'.

On the other hand, we need to see that the statement 'F-35 flight over Ukraine', based on the Singaporean Minister of Defense, may not be 100% correct. Because, F-35s do not necessarily have to fly over Ukraine to detect Russian targets. The F-35's Northrop Grumman-made AN/APG-81 AESA radar allows this aircraft to see a warplane 370 km away. This capability means that an F-35 flying over Poland could detect a significant portion, if not all, of Russian aircraft flying over Belarus and Ukraine. In terms of our subject, the capability that comes before the AESA radar is the AN/ASQ-239 Barracuda ELINT (electronic intelligence) system that this aircraft has. Its range is 926 km. This system is used to detect threats both on the ground and in the air. Again, continuing with our example, this means that an F-35 flying over Poland has the ability to locate Russian targets near Kharkov, 415 km east of Kiev. Likewise, an F-35 flying over Romania with the same ELINT system can cover the entire Crimean peninsula and monitor the movements of Russian helicopters and planes and surface-based air defense systems there.

Conclusion

Statement by Singapore Minister of Defense Ng Eng Hen, “American F-35s are actively involved in missions related to Ukraine.” I consider his statement as a statement that should be considered largely true. It appears that American F-35As are being used to provide a significant intelligence flow to Ukraine. I believe that the ISR capabilities of the F-35A, which is understood to be integrated into the intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance activities of European countries, are seen as a need to closely monitor the mobility of the Russian Army and meet the intelligence needs of the Ukrainian Army 24/7.

References

DefAviation, “What is true in the news about American F-35 fighters flying over Ukraine?”, 4 Mart 2024, https://www.outono.net/elentir/2024/03/04/what-is-true-in-the-news-about-american-f-35-fighters-flying-over-ukraine/

Boyko Nikolov, “F-35s scan Ukraine to locate Russian air defense, Singapore says”, 3 Mart 2024, https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2024/03/03/f-35s-scan-ukraine-to-locate-russian-air-defense-singapore-says/

Air Force Times, “The USAF sent F-35s to defend NATO. Here’s what it learned.”, 5 Nisan 2023, https://www.f35.com/f35/news-and-features/USAF-F35s-defend-NATO-what-it-learned.html