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Belgian F-16 jet fighter. This illustrative image from October 2022 shows a Belgian F-16 jet fighter takes part in the NATO Air Nuclear drill “Steadfast Noon”at the Kleine-Brogel air base in Belgium on October 18, 2022.
Denmark has said it will give Ukraine another batch of F-16 fighter jets before the end of this year amid hopes that more of the fourth-generation aircraft can help Kyiv fight Russian aggression.
U.S. President Joe Biden dropped Washington’s objection to other countries providing the American-made jets to Ukraine in May 2023 and a fighter jet coalition formed consisting of Denmark, the Netherlands and other partners.
Ukraine received its first batch of the jets in late July. Denmark’s defense minister Troels Lund Poelsen said Monday that Ukraine had received the first Danish aircraft, and while he did not disclose how many, Copenhagen has pledged to deliver a total of 19 planes.
“In the second half of 2024, Denmark will deliver an additional contribution of F-16 aircraft,” the minister told Danish news agency Ritzau, without specifying how many or exactly when they would be provided. Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian defense ministry for comment.
The F-16s are expected to enhance Ukraine’s ability to intercept the Russian drones and helicopters that back up Moscow’s ground offensive but there are questions over whether they mark a game changer in the war.
“It will take several years before Ukraine will have trained up enough pilots and maintenance crews for the expected 80 aircraft,” Peter Rutland, Russia expert and professor of government at Wesleyan University, told Newsweek.
On August 26, the first F-16 flown by a Ukrainian pilot crashed killing Lt. Col. Oleksiy Mes, who was also known by his call sign “Moonfish.” His death dealt a big blow to Ukraine’s war effort given his high public profile and prominent lobbying of Washington to allow Kyiv to get the fighter jets.
He was among half a dozen Ukrainian pilots who were trained in Denmark to fly the plane although he told Ukrainian media that the training had been “condensed.”
The crash is being investigated amid unconfirmed reports that Mes’ plane was shot down by friendly fire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the head of Ukraine’s air force, Mykola Oleshchuk, with Lt. Gen. Anatoly Kryvonozhko appointed as acting Air Force Commander.
More than a dozen Ukrainian pilots are set to begin F-16 training at the Fetesti Air Base in Romania, where 14 of the 18 F-16s pledged by the Netherlands have also arrived, Airforce Technology reported on Monday.
“The pilots are being trained at Fetesti Air Base, a facility established under a coalition led by the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United States to bolster Ukraine’s air defence capabilities,” Airforce Technology reported. The Netherlands Ministry of Defense said that training would start before the end of the year.
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