Direct proof of use
The M61A1 Vulcan cannon is documented in Ukrainian F-16 air-defense use during the full-scale phase of the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War. The clearest reported case is the December 13, 2024 Russian strike, when Ukrainian Air Force reporting, covered by The Kyiv Independent, said a Ukrainian-operated F-16 shot down six Russian cruise missiles in one mission, including two with the aircraft cannon.
UNITED24 Media later published an interview account from the same mission. The pilot described being out of air-to-air missiles, keeping the F-16 on station, and using the jet's 20 mm M61 Vulcan gun against two incoming Russian cruise missiles heading toward Kyiv.
A second public evidence lane appeared in February 2026, when Ukrainian Air Force footage and reporting showed a Ukrainian F-16 destroying a Russian Shahed/Geran-type attack drone in Ukrainian airspace with its onboard cannon.
Sources: Kyiv Independent F-16 Six Missile Claim, UNITED24 F-16 Six Missile Interview, UNITED24 F-16 Shahed Gun Kill, The Aviationist F-16 Gun Kill Video
Timeline
On December 13, 2024, Russia launched a large missile-and-drone attack against Ukraine. The Kyiv Independent reported the Ukrainian Air Force claim that a Ukrainian F-16 shot down six Russian cruise missiles during that attack and that two of the kills were made with the aircraft cannon after the pilot had expended air-to-air missiles.
On October 10, 2025, UNITED24 Media published a longer pilot interview about the December mission. The pilot said the F-16 carried four air-to-air missiles and roughly 510 rounds for the M61 Vulcan, then closed with the remaining cruise-missile targets and fired the 20 mm gun.
On February 8-9, 2026, Ukrainian Air Force social-media footage was reported by UNITED24 Media and The Aviationist as showing a Ukrainian F-16 destroying a Shahed/Geran-type attack drone with the onboard cannon.
Sources: Kyiv Independent F-16 Six Missile Claim, UNITED24 F-16 Six Missile Interview, UNITED24 F-16 Shahed Gun Kill, The Aviationist F-16 Gun Kill Video
Role in Ukrainian air defense
The documented conflict use is defensive rather than strike or close air support: Ukrainian F-16s used the Vulcan as a last-ditch or close-range air-defense weapon against Russian aerial targets. In the December 2024 account, the targets were cruise missiles; in the February 2026 footage, the target was a Shahed/Geran-type one-way attack drone.
The public record does not show routine cannon use in every Ukrainian F-16 interception. It supports specific engagements in which the gun supplemented missile armament when a pilot had no missiles remaining or when a low-cost drone target was engaged at close range.
Sources: Kyiv Independent F-16 Six Missile Claim, UNITED24 F-16 Six Missile Interview, UNITED24 F-16 Shahed Gun Kill, The Aviationist F-16 Gun Kill Video
