US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirms delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine
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US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told CNN on July 23 that Ukraine would receive F-16 fighter jets, but even if the decision were made tomorrow, it would take several months to implement. According to him, it is necessary to focus on ensuring that by the time Ukraine receives the aircraft, they can be serviced and used in a “reasonable way”.
The issue of deliveries of F-16s has been discussed since the beginning of the year, and in early May, The Washington Post reported that the administration was inclined to supply these machines to Ukraine from the presence of US allies in the Air Force.
In May, CNN reported that at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, US President Joe Biden supported proposals from US allies, including Britain and the Netherlands, to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the fighter jets. At the NATO summit in Vilnius on July 12, it was announced the creation of a coalition to train Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighter jets. It consists of Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the UK. According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, according to the adopted memorandum, Ukrainian pilots, technicians and support personnel will be included in the training program, which will be organized by these countries. In addition, the coalition pledged to consider other ways to provide Kyiv with “full F-16 functionality,” which means supplying weapons to these aircraft.
Judging by the available publications, the private company Draken will train Ukrainian personnel in Romania from 2024, and the first squadron will be trained earlier by the Danish military in Denmark, says Mikhail Barabanov, an expert at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. The planes themselves, apparently, will be the former Dutch and Danish, he continues. Their fleet is enough to recruit two squadrons for Ukraine with a total number of up to 30 fighters, Barabanov believes.
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