The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American air superiority fighter that Kyiv has begged for since the start of the full-scale invasion and is expected to finally start receiving this year. It’s a versatile workhorse of a jet that’s fought in dozens of wars and is
“Ukrainian pilots flying F-16s, equipped with anti-radiation weapons, would have to fly well into the S-400’s engagement range to bait Russian operators into emitting,” said Grieco.
Well, maybe. Don’t necessarily have to fly an actual aircraft in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADM-160_MALD
The ADM-160 MALD (Miniature Air-Launched Decoy) is an air-launched, expendable decoy missile developed by the United States. It uses gradient-index optics to create a radar cross section that simulates allies’ airplane,[citation needed] in order to stimulate, confuse, and degrade the capability of missile defense systems.
Launch platform: …F-16…
Used by: …Ukrainian Air Force
Wars: 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine
OTOH radar is quite expensive and essential for any battery. Also S-400 has more than one radar, so anti radiation missiles could do quite a lot of damage.
I’d add that a similar “send in decoys” approach was used to bait SAMs into illuminating back during the early portion of Desert Storm, followed by a large anti-radiation missile attack.
