Ukraine will keep some F-16s at foreign bases. Russia threatens to strike at them
10 June 2024 15:04
The Ukrainian Air Force reports that a certain number of F-16 aircraft to be transferred to Ukraine by its partners will be stored at secure airbases outside the country. The Ukrainian Armed Forces believe that this will help protect them from possible enemy attacks, reports [Kommersant].
“There is a figure that will enter Ukraine. There is a certain number of aircraft that will be stored at safe airbases, not in Ukraine, so that they are not targets here,”
– said Serhiy Holubtsov, chief of aviation of the Ukrainian Air Force, in an interview with Radio Liberty.
The planes stored abroad will serve as a reserve to replace those that are faulty or undergoing routine maintenance in Ukraine. This will allow maintaining a constant number of combat-ready fighters in line with the number of trained pilots, Golubtsov said.
Russia, on the other hand, has warned that it will consider the F-16s that will be involved in combat missions and the airfields where they are based to be legitimate targets for its armed forces.
“If they are not used for their intended purpose, they will not be [a legitimate target for the Russian Armed Forces], but if they take part in combat missions, they will certainly be,”
– said Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the State Duma Defence Committee.
What is known about the F-16 for Ukraine
The United States has led the Ukrainian Air Force Development Capability Coalition in operating F-16 multi-role fighters. The Netherlands and Denmark became co-chairs.
In August last year, Denmark and the Netherlands pledged to provide Ukraine with 61 F-16s. In order for the delivery to begin, Ukrainian pilots and maintenance personnel must be trained and Ukraine must prepare the infrastructure.
on 20 August 2023, after talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would receive a total of 42 US F-16 fighter jets.
The day before, Zelenskyy announced that the Netherlands had begun preparations to hand over the first 18 F-16 multi-role fighters to Ukraine.
Although the first aircraft may arrive as early as this year, not all partners are acting so quickly. For example, Belgium plans to deliver most of the aircraft in 2025.
As reported by 
, the first group of Ukrainian pilots has now completed their F-16 training in the US and headed to Europe.
