LaFinlandiaF-16 being loaded onto a Ukrainian An-124 in Arizona, USA.
aramis87I'm delighted we're sending these over to Ukraine (though it should have been done a long time ago).
Question: the F-16s are planes. Is there some reason we're loading them onto other planes for transport instead of flying them over?
Ease of transfer (one pilot vs multiple for a looooong flight, probably no refuel on the Antonow, and if so it eats less specialised stuff than the F-16s) and maybe even fuel efficiency, I would guess.
Also, one cargo plane raises less eye brows than a flock of fighters.
AN-124’s are extremely inefficient - it’s probably stopping 2-3 times on route, but still easier to arrange than flying each plane.
Think they’d go west over the pacific or back across the US?
Back across the US - Portland Maine is a popular tech stop for the AN124’s and then probably someplace in the UK
Both aircraft types will almost certainly be running Jet A1, or whatever the military version of it is.