Ukraina - F-16 Snart operative - Stars & Stripes

 

Disse flyene vil bli Pri 1 targets for Putin. Det skal bli interessant å se hvordan de kommer til å fungere i et område med ekstrem trussel. Som du har lest før vil Norge sende 6 fly til Zelenskyj. (Red.)

Ukraine will be flying donated F-16s ‘this summer,’ Austin says

By 

SVETLANA SHKOLNIKOVA

STARS AND STRIPES • July 10, 2024

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A Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft takes off over Bodo, Norway, in October 2018 during Exercise. (Bryan Carter/Allied Joint Force Command Naples)

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that Ukraine will be flying F-16s “this summer” following the delivery of the long-awaited fighter jets by the Netherlands and Denmark.

The announcement came on the second day of the NATO summit in Washington, where world leaders are gathering to mark the landmark 75th anniversary of the military alliance and bolster support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

President Joe Biden, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a joint statement Wednesday that the process of transferring the American-made fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands is underway.

Additional aircraft will be provided later by Belgium and Norway, according to the statement. It is unclear how many operational F-16s each country is donating.

“We are unable to provide additional details at this time due to operational security concerns,” the leaders stated.

Austin praised the transfer at the NATO Public Forum, an event running parallel to the summit, and said a coalition of countries has been “working tirelessly” to round up operational F-16s for Ukraine.

Denmark and the Netherlands pledged last year to send about 60 of the fighter jets but were awaiting permission from the United States. The U.S. began training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s in the fall in preparation for the transfer.

Ukraine has long requested the aircraft, which entered U.S. military service in the late 1970s and is used by numerous countries in the NATO alliance.

The U.S. has not offered to send its own F-16s, and the Biden administration had initially hesitated to send the war plane because Ukraine already had a fleet of Soviet-era fighters with which they were more familiar.