The Netherlands and Denmark confirmed their readiness to transfer F-16s to Ukraine

Ukraine received a guarantee from the Netherlands and Denmark: these countries will hand over to it American fourth-generation F-16 fighters. This, in particular, was discussed on August 20 at a joint press conference in the Netherlands by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky with and. O. Prime Minister Mark Rutte. On August 17, the US State Department approved the re-export of combat aircraft to Ukraine for European allies.

“We are [и. о. премьер-министра Нидерландов] Mark Rutte agreed on the number of F-16s that will be provided to Ukraine after the training of our pilots and engineers. 42 aircraft. And this is just the beginning. Thank you, Netherlands,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram before the press conference.

However, according to the NOS channel, Rutte has so far confirmed only the very fact of the upcoming deliveries of fighters to Kyiv, noting that 42 is the total number of F-16s from the Netherlands. They are now being replaced by fifth-generation F-35 fighters, but, as Rutte noted, they “need several aircraft [F-16] for the training program [украинцев] in Denmark and soon in Romania” and therefore it is premature to talk about the exact number of aircraft for Ukraine. According to Reuters, then Zelensky, who called the deal a “breakthrough agreement”, said that the exact number of aircraft would be discussed “a little later.”

Reuters previously cited data from the Dutch Ministry of Defense that the country has 24 active F-16s, which will be decommissioned by mid-2024. Another 18 aircraft are currently for sale, with 12 of them already received an offer.

After the Netherlands, Zelensky went to Denmark, whose Ministry of Defense on its website confirmed its readiness to hand over the F-16 to Kyiv even before his arrival. “We agree to transfer F-16 aircraft to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Air Force in close cooperation with the United States and other partners when the conditions for such a transfer are met,” the agency said. Among them are the selection, verification and training of Ukrainian personnel, obtaining the necessary permits and preparing infrastructure and logistics.

Then Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen “tested” the cockpit of the fighters and announced that her country was preparing to transfer 19 aircraft to Kyiv. Denmark hopes to transfer the first six F-16 fighters to Ukraine on New Year’s Eve, eight more in 2024, and the rest in 2025.

Zelensky began his European tour on August 19 from Sweden, where he announced a “breakthrough result” in Gripen fighters. At the same time, Zelensky’s press secretary, Sergei Nikiforov, said on the air of the Rada TV channel that the transfer of Swedish JAS Gripen fighters to Ukraine is still being considered theoretically, since three more steps need to be taken for this – testing fighters, training pilots, political consent and the very provision of aircraft . Among other “very necessary results” in Sweden, Zelensky called the decision to produce Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicles in Ukraine.

On August 17, Washington approved the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in his letter that Kyiv would be able to take advantage of “new opportunities” after completing the training of the first group of pilots. The next day, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that Ukrainian pilots and technicians had already begun training on American fighter jets. At the same time, he confirmed that the training period for pilots would be at least six months, adding that in reality it could be even longer. On August 11, The Washington Post newspaper wrote that only six Ukrainian pilots would pass the first stage of training and it would last until the summer of 2024. The low number of students is due to the lack of instructors. At the same time, as Ukrainian sources told the publication, first the pilots will have to complete four-month language courses, during which they will master all the necessary technical terms related to the F-16 fighters, and only then the six-month combat training program itself will begin.

The transfer of the Dutch F-16s to Ukraine is rather a political act, with the help of which all parties can score points for themselves, Alexander Ermakov, a military expert of the Russian International Affairs Council, believes. Their physical transfer will be discussed next year, and by the summer, and about 6-10 pilots will be trained according to the plans, he continues. The transfer of these aircraft by the Netherlands will not radically affect the situation in battles, Yermakov concludes. As for Denmark’s promises to deliver the first aircraft before the upcoming New Year, most likely, we are talking about transferring them to a training center, since before that it was clearly said that Ukraine would not have trained pilots by that time, he concludes.