NEW YORK, August 28. /TASS/. The electronic warfare systems that were installed by the US Air Force on F-16 fighter jets before handing them over to Ukraine will not be able to repel all Russian military strikes, the Defense One news website reported.

"Russia’s electronic warfare devices have knocked down many US precision weapons sent to Ukraine," the report said. "While the Ukrainian F-16s’s reprogrammed electronic warfare system won't be able to hold off every threat, it will help the jets survive."

According to the news website, the 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron was tasked with reprogramming the electronic warfare system aboard F-16s being donated by Denmark and the Netherlands to enable them to survive Russian jamming and other electromagnetic attacks. US Air Force engineers first had to understand an unfamiliar electronic warfare system, because the system on the F-16s transferred from Denmark and the Netherlands isn’t used by the US.

"With Ukraine now being onboarded as an official foreign military sales case for the 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron, the unit will provide reprogramming capabilities based on feedback from the Ukrainians," the unit said in a news release.

On August 8, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said while meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the US House of Representatives that Kiev is interested in expanding the program of training and educating pilots and technicians for US F-16 fighter jets in the United States. Earlier, he confirmed that Western allies had provided Kiev with the first shipment of F-16s.

The Economist reported previously that Ukraine received 10 such jets, and their number will increase to 20 by the end of this year. Ukraine could eventually get hold of 79 such jets, according to the report.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on August 7 that the F-16 fighters would not become a magic pill that could influence the course of hostilities and "will be consistently destroyed by the Russian armed forces."