"Recently, we had the first air-to-air kill where a Ukrainian F-16 shot down a Russian fighter," General Dan Caine, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday. Two of the Ukrainian jets were F-16s, the account said at the time. Ukraine has often used its F-16s to shoot down Russian missiles and drones heading for Ukrainian cities, rather than launching long-range attacks deep inside Russia. ...Ukrainian F-16s didn't have enough missiles to intercept incoming Russian attacks for close to a month in late 2025, Reuters reported in March. The Ukrainian F-16 fleet is thought to be modest, with around 39 aircraft in service, according to the specialist Ukrainian outlet, Defense Express.