‘No Magic Weapons’: Milley Sets Expectations On F-16s
Joint Chiefs Chairman defends United States’ gradual approach on weapons for Ukraine.
PATRICK TUCKER | MAY 25, 2023 05:55 PM ET
UKRAINE
After months of urging from Ukraine supporters, Norway, Belgium, Portugal, Poland and the Netherlands will soon help train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s—which have been called a possible gamechanger for the war. But Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley on Thursday urged observers to be prepared for the fight to continue on indefinitely.
“There are no magic weapons. An F-16 is not, and neither as anything else,” Milley told reporters at the Pentagon. “Ukraine deserves a capable air force. It's going to take a considerable length of time to build up an air force that's the size and scope and scale that'll be necessary.”
In the meantime, “there's a couple hundred thousand Russian troops in Russian-occupied Ukraine,” he said. Expelling them “might be achievable militarily, but probably not in the near term. So what does that mean? That means fighting is going to continue. It's gonna be bloody. It's gonna be hard.”
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2023/05/no-magic-weapons-milley-sets-expectations-f-16s/386818/
