Ukraine has already received a first shipment of F-16 fighter jets from several NATO countries, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the operation who requested anonymity. This is one of the most insistent requests from Kiev for Western military aid to contain the Russian offensive on its territory. Neither the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense nor the United States Department of Defense have confirmed the delivery, although the Netherlands and Denmark already announced in early July that they had started sending some of the promised aircraft.
These fighters have been long awaited by the Ukrainian army and society, who trust that they will serve to force the Russian army to retreat from its territory, which has been invading on a large scale since February 2022, or at least to repel its attacks. In recent weeks, Russia has accelerated its advances on the Donetsk front and the military sources consulted by Morning Express have pointed out on all occasions that the numerical and armament superiority of the Russian Armed Forces is overwhelming. “They [Rusia] “They have planes, but we cannot defend ourselves with drones alone,” a Ukrainian commander criticised on Monday.
The F-16s have been President Volodymyr Zelensky’s obsession since the beginning of the conflict. Talks to equip Ukraine with these planes began that same year, and since they are American-made, the White House had to authorize their delivery even if they were owned by other states. Giving the go-ahead has taken time due to fears that such a shipment would provoke an escalation in the conflict (among other reasons, in case Ukraine used them to attack Russian territory). Finally, in view of the worsening of the conflict and the loss of ground by Ukrainian troops, President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead in August 2023 and in mid-July of this year he announced that the first ones would arrive before the end of this month in the country invaded by Russia.
It has not been disclosed how many have arrived in this first shipment, beyond that it is a “small” number, according to Bloomberg. The total number pledged by NATO allies exceeds fifty: Denmark will donate six of its 19 units; the Netherlands will send 24; Norway, 22, and Belgium has not reported how many it will contribute. Last June, Zelensky said that the country needed at least 128 F-16s to confront Moscow’s aggression. “Russia is using 300 aircraft against Ukraine every day. Our allies know the numbers,” he emphasized during an appearance at the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington.
The news of this first delivery coincided with Zelensky’s latest message on social media, following the shooting down of almost 90 Shahed drones over the city of Kiev in the early hours of Wednesday in what was the largest attack by unmanned aircraft against the Ukrainian capital so far this year. The president has alluded to the importance of increasing Ukraine’s capabilities to protect the skies. “We can be stronger both in defence against missiles and in defence against Russian military aircraft. Everything depends on the weapons our soldiers have,” he said.
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Beyond logistical issues, the delivery of the F-16s has been delayed by obstacles that have arisen along the way and amid a debate over whether they are truly decisive in turning the tide of the war. In November 2023, former Armed Forces Commander Valeri Zaluzhni argued that the fighters would arrive too late, as the right time should have been the previous summer, when Ukraine launched a counteroffensive that ended in failure.
There is also the question of numbers, as the fighters committed are not enough to be a turning point. Russia has deployed 300 fighter planes in this war, out of a total of 1,500, Ukrainian Lieutenant General Igor Romanenko said a couple of months ago. Meanwhile, Zaluzhni acknowledged that Ukraine had only 120 planes at the beginning of the invasion and now only 40 remain, all of Soviet manufacture. Currently, the number in operation is unknown.
Ukraine also did not have any trained pilots to fly the F-16s. For less than a year, the United States and several European countries, including the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and Denmark, have been training Ukrainians. The source consulted by Bloomberg said it was unclear whether the trained Ukrainian pilots would be able to fly the F-16s immediately or whether the process would take longer.
Another recurring complaint in the army is that the models to be sent are not the most modern, but are manufactured more than 40 years ago. The officer consulted by this newspaper insists that only the most modern aircraft will provide a real advantage.
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