During a massive attack by Russian troops in December 2024, a Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot destroyed six enemy cruise missiles in one combat sortie, which was recorded for the first time in the history of the use of the American Fighting Falcon fighter, said Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, head of the public relations service of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, citing a conversation with the pilot himself.

"Let me remind you what happened in the skies over Ukraine on the morning of December 13, 2024. A massive air attack by the occupiers, almost 200 enemy drones in the sky, Kinzhals, ballistics and 94 air, sea and land-based cruise missiles," Ihnat noted on Facebook on Tuesday, talking about the precedent.

The Ukrainian fighter's main target was precisely the cruise missiles, intercepting which is a difficult task. The Ukrainian pilot used all four air-to-air missiles on board the F-16 to shoot down four cruise missiles. However, noticing another target, the pilot decided to use the aircraft cannon.

"Shooting down cruise missiles with cannon is very risky due to the high speed of the target and the risk of detonation. But I acted as the instructors in the USA taught me, and I managed to hit. As it turned out, two missiles that were flying next to each other were destroyed at the same time," the pilot said.

This case was unique: for the first time in history, an F-16 pilot destroyed six cruise missiles in one sortie, two of them using an aircraft cannon. "Based on the results of objective control, we have 100% confirmation of the fact that for the first time in history, an American F-16 fighter has shot down six cruise missiles in an anti-aircraft battle, two of them using an aircraft cannon. And it is done by a Ukrainian," Ihnat wrote. According to him, after successfully completing the mission, the pilot was greeted with applause at the airfield. His success aroused admiration not only among the Ukrainian military, but also in the United States.

"Yes, we have received not very new modifications of the F-16s from our partners (as well as other ground weapons), we do not have powerful radars and long-range missiles on these planes to compete in air battles with the technologically advanced Russian planes, but young Ukrainian pilots prove every day that they are the best, whether in the cockpit of a Soviet or American fighter," Ihnat emphasized.

Ihnat hinted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are expecting even more modern weapons, in particular the F-35. "Just imagine what a formidable deterrent force in the center of Europe the war-hardened Ukrainian pilots will be when, say, the F-35s enter service with the Air Force," he wrote.