How Russia could spot Ukrainian F-16s before they even got off the ground, according to an air-warfare expert

• Calls for Western countries to send fighter jets to Ukraine have grown in recent months.
• Those calls center on the US-made F-16, which proponents say will boost Ukraine's air force.
• But Russia would notice if Ukraine began modifying its airbases to support F-16s, one expert says.

Should Ukraine ever receive F-16 fighters from the US, the jets might not last very long.

The F-16 is so fragile that it requires specially prepared airbases — and those bases can be identified and targeted by Russia, one expert says.