Ukraine is pinning its hopes on the F-16. These photos show what the US fighter can do.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sits in an F-16 fighter jet.Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

• Ukraine is betting on the powerful F-16 fighter jet to give them a leg-up in the war against Russia.
• The F-16 Fighting Falcon can hit speeds of up to 1,500 miles per hour — twice the speed of sound.

Late last year, Ukrainian pilots shifted from flight simulators to training on actual F-16 fighter jets, a combat aircraft that the country hopes will secure an edge in the war with Russia.

Ukraine has long sought to add the Western fighter jet to its diminished fighter fleet of many Soviet-made planes like the Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrums and Sukhoi Su-27 Flankers. Open source researchers have found evidence that Ukraine has lost at least 71 fighter jets since the war's start.

Though the F-16 isn't the newest jet the US has, it's a still valuable and versatile asset in Ukraine's arsenal, and will help defend Ukraine's airspace and more effectively fire US-designed missiles.