On July 21, General Dan Kaine confirmed in the US Senate what had been written primarily as "unverified claims" since summer 2025: an F-16 shot down a Su-35 in aerial combat. But what matters is not just what happened, but how.
The battle that took place on June 7
According to SOFREP and The War Zone, on June 7, 2025, around 10:00 local time over Kursk region, a former Dutch F-16AM shot down a Russian Su-35S — Russia's most advanced non-stealth fighter, which by that time had achieved at least seven confirmed aerial victories over Ukrainian aircraft.
The battle scheme, according to the reconstruction by Charter'97 analysts and journalist Yakevin, looked like this: two F-16s did not retreat from the Su-35, but instead drew it into a dogfight. At the same time, a ground-based Patriot air defense system opened fire. The Russian pilot faced the necessity of evading missiles from two F-16s and Patriot simultaneously.
"The Ukrainians used a trick — they lured the Su-35 into the strike zone of the ground Patriot, and at the same time opened fire from the air at it. The pilot had to evade multiple missiles simultaneously — an extremely difficult task"
— Charter'97 analysis citing journalist Yakevin
Analysts lean toward the conclusion that a decisive role was played by an AMRAAM fired by one of the F-16s, rather than a Patriot missile — but this has not been definitively confirmed.
What Kaine confirmed and why this matters in the Senate
General Kaine mentioned the shootdown not as a separate sensation, but as an argument in response to a question from Democratic Senator Richard Durbin about the consequences of a possible suspension of air defense funding. The context is telling: the F-16 victory became an illustration of what Ukraine gains from sustained coalition support.
"Recently, we witnessed the first aerial duel in which a Ukrainian F-16 shot down a Russian fighter"
— General Dan Kaine, US Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, July 21
Technical context that should not be ignored
The Su-35S was developed specifically as a fighter capable of surpassing NATO's F-15 and F-16 in dogfighting. Until June 2025, it remained Russia's primary frontline fighter for several years to come. The destruction occurred based on target designation from a Swedish Saab 340 AEW&C airborne early warning aircraft, which operated at a distance of 200–300 km from the target.
- This is the ninth confirmed destruction of a Su-35 in this war — the first in aerial combat, the rest by air defense missiles
- The F-16AM that performed the task — a former Dutch aircraft, transferred as part of a coalition package
- On the same day, July 21, the Armed Forces of Ukraine damaged another MiG-29 and Pantsir-S1 in the Kursk region
What this still does not mean
Until the end of 2025, according to Rostec data and testimonies of Ukrainian pilots, F-16s were forced to operate exclusively at low altitudes far behind the front line — too great a threat from Su-35s and MiG-31s at high altitudes. One battle over Kursk did not change this tactical limitation.
If Belgium does transfer over 40 F-16s to Ukraine, as Defense Minister Theo Francken spoke about in June, — will there be enough trained pilot personnel to change tactics from "evasion" to "forcing engagement"?
