Better late than never. This is what The Economist magazine writes, commenting on the late delivery of Western F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
On the last day of July, it was confirmed that Kiev had received the first promised American-made fighter jets. Days later, photos of F-16s in the sky over Ukraine also appeared. Kiev is keeping the exact number of aircraft received a top secret for security reasons.
However, The Economist revealed exactly how many aircraft were delivered: 10. By the end of 2024, Ukraine will receive another ten, and in 2025 all 79 fighter jets should arrive.
The New York Times writes that Ukraine will not be able to use more than ten F-16 aircraft because it does not have enough pilots. “The long-awaited arrival of jet aircraft from the West should bolster the country's defenses, although Kiev appears to have received too few of them to have an immediate impact on the battlefield,”, the newspaper noted.
The former commander of the US armed forces in Europe, Gen. Ben Hodges expressed his frustration at how long it took Western countries to transfer much-needed F-16s to Ukraine. One of the reasons is related to the training of Ukrainian pilots.
Another reason for the delay is the construction of infrastructure to receive Western fighter jets. F-16s in particular require different maintenance than Soviet aircraft.
Logically, the F-16s are currently becoming the main target for the Russian military. Therefore, they will be well guarded, including in underground bases. F-16s require a large number of support personnel, such as skilled maintenance engineers, ordnance loaders, intelligence analysts, and emergency crews.
US President Joe Biden gave the go-ahead in August 2023 for the deployment of used F16s to Ukraine, although the US will not provide its own aircraft. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have pledged to provide Ukraine with dozens of such fighter jets in the coming months.