Why the F-16 is one of Nato’s most important fighter jets | BBC News

December 1973 in Fort Worth, Texas. After just 21 months of development, the prototype to what was to become the F-16 was presented. The first successful flight happened just two months later. The iconic bubble canopy to give the pilot great all-round visibility and inside a first-of-its-kind fly-by-wire control system where computers fly the aircraft according to how the pilot applies pressure to the controls. A high-performance single-engine fighter flashes over the desert base at supersonic speed for the first time. The sum of all that is a fighter jet that is extremely maneuverable and has been used for a lot of different types of combat missions around the world. The YF-16 is everything an air combat fighter has to be. It is nimble, maneuverable. Fast forward more than 50 years and the shape is more or less the same. But inside, everything is upgraded. And that's badly needed, NATO says, because of the threat from Russia over the past few years. February 2025 and there's a flurry of diplomatic activity about a possible peace deal. All the while, Ukraine continues defending itself against attacks. And those attacks highlight, the country says, the need to replace aging Soviet-era jets with modern Western aircraft. For the first group of pilots who arrived in Ukraine and started using them in the Ukrainian sky, the main priority is air defense. F-16s are wonderful interceptor planes. That's what they were created for, to intercept targets in the air. But there are also multipurpose planes which can attack targets on the land and on the water. But we're now at the stage of using F-16 planes effectively to intercept targets in the air, such as cruise missiles and the enemy's Shahed drones. The F-16 is the first Western fighter jet the Ukrainians have started operating. So I've come to Spengdalem Air Base in Germany. It's a chilly week in January and I'm meeting the 52nd Fighter Wing of the US Air Force. They host the 480th Fighter Squadron of F-16 jets. This squadron has no involvement in the war in Ukraine, but they do specialize in flying missions very similar to the ones Ukrainians are flying. And here, they're very clear about the threat from Russia. My visit took place just days before President Trump returned to the White House. I think it's right in our face. You know, I think even till February 23rd, 2022, many people were saying, you know, Russia's not gonna invade, it's not gonna happen. And then it happened. And so I think that that brought it very, very clear in people's mind that the threat of Russia on NATO territory is higher than we anticipated it being. We've been given special access to the squadron. We'll get to see the hangars and sit in on a training mission before an actual trip in the F-16. This squadron flies a very particular type of mission. Pilots head towards the feared surface-to-air missile sites, seeking out and destroying them with missiles to protect friendly aircraft. They also fly defensive counter-air missions, those designed to defend airspace. That's very similar to the way Ukraine uses their F-16s. As part of my trip, I get to fly the aircraft too. But first, some training. Kind of an awkward process. You never really get to know. Including parachute familiarization. That was annoying. That's right where you'd want to land in real life though. What we can do now is find that big aircraft carrier. So you see it to the left? Yeah. So try and steer towards it. And how to eject if there's an emergency. Bail out, bail out. The jet will do all the work. All you have to do is sit there and enjoy it. Kind of feels like a massage. Then I sit in on a training mission briefing. Here the crews talk about dealing with a simulated cruise missile and drone attack. Captain Jinx leads the session. We will fight, take, fight, take, fight, come home. My pilot today has the callsign Grim. He takes me through safety procedures. The hot mic's going to allow us to talk in our cockpit to each other. And the intercom is going to be that volume between just you and I. Then we're on our way to the jet. This is it. And here we go. Captain Grim gives the jet full power for takeoff. And in case you're wondering, those are dummy missiles on the jet. A vital part of flying military jets is refueling in the air because missions can be long. Then I fly the plane. Okay, here we are. 16, I have control. That's 16, fighting Falcon. Back gently. Trying to be sensitive. We're allowed to go up to 18,000 feet. Can I go down to 19? I think I've busted my eye. Nope, you've got 0.4. To check out how responsive the jet is, I do a couple of maneuvers, starting with a roll. Go ahead and just use the stick. Okay. And a roll, roll, roll, coming up. I've never flown a real jet before, but flying this is intuitive, using a stick to my right to change direction and a throttle lever on my left to alter speed. Dual controls means the pilot can take back the plane at any time. You've got the aircraft? I've got the aircraft. You've got the aircraft. Okay, I'm back in control of the F-16. Maintain level flight. F-16, incredible, which European countries, NATO countries, have donated to Ukraine. And Ukrainian pilots are flying this day in, day out. For missions to try to knock out missiles and drones which are attacking Ukrainian cities and facilities. Flying the jet subjects you to incredible forces. Here, only the harness is keeping me in the seat. All right, Chris, you want to give me a right or a left hand 180 degree turn? Yep, got to go left, 180. Good. Good, turn in left and steer left, generally. Okay. 350 knots. After an hour in the air, Grim flies us back to base. And once through the cloud, we're on the ground. Thank you very much, indeed. Yeah, absolutely. That was an incredible experience. Yeah, you did great. It was awesome. Just tell me about the aircraft, how long you've been flying it. So I've been flying the F-16 for about five years now. Phenomenal aircraft to fly. As you were saying, we've had it for 50 years, so it's an older jet, but constantly doing updates and it's great, yeah. I'd want to fly nothing else. Further east of here, F-16s continue to play an important role protecting the skies over Ukraine. At the moment, the F-16s in Ukraine are, in many ways, kind of the vanguard for what is planned to be a build-up to a much greater force, as particularly a new generation of Ukrainian pilots who've been trained from the outset by Western air forces who are kind of going through a F-16 conversion. As for this US squadron, its role is pivotal in Europe. But with a new president, potentially different priorities. Five years ago, Donald Trump suggested pulling some US forces out of Germany to be relocated elsewhere in Europe. No word yet on what the new administration may or may not do, but the US Air Force leadership in Europe says American forces will be ready for whatever is decided. Look, at our level in the military, you know our relationships. We have some civilian control, direction of the military. I expect policy changes to occur. Have no idea what those are, but I can assure you what I do expect is they will be direct, they will be clear, we will know their intent and we will move out and we'll execute those policy from a military perspective and a diplomacy perspective as well. You know, when that comes through the administration, but I think through the National Security Advisors, now Security Council, through the cabinet, they're gonna sort their game plan and we'll be ready to execute. A month after we filmed this, President Trump put defence spending at the centre of debate for European security and the war in Ukraine. This squadron at Spangdahlen delivers what the fighter wing describes as world-class support to conduct wartime and contingency missions, underpinned by aircraft maintainers and operational teams in defending the skies here and beyond.