Ukraine Gets F-16 Boost From NATO Ally

The Netherlands on Monday announced that it would send Ukraine an additional six American-made F-16 fighter jets to bolster Ukrainian defenses against invading Russian forces.

"The Netherlands Ministry of Defense is readying 6 additional F-16 fighter aircraft for delivery to Ukraine," Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "This brings the total number to 24 F-16s." Newsweek reached out to the Netherlands Ministry of Defense via email on Monday for further comment.

The Netherlands and Denmark were the first two countries to commit to donating F-16s to Kyiv's forces, following months of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials requesting the aircraft from their allies. Norway and Belgium also later pledged to provide the fighter jets to Zelensky's military.

"Ukraine's aerial superiority is essential for countering Russian aggression," Ollongren said in her X post.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced in December that the Netherlands was preparing 18 F-16s for Ukraine. Ollongren's Monday announcement did not provide a timetable for when any of the aircraft would arrive in the country.

In October, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told members of the press that the first six of 19 F-16s his country had promised were expected to arrive to Ukraine in March or April, adding the delivery date "depends on how the training effort goes."

Belgium's Defense Ministry has not indicated how many F-16s it would donate, but it has said the jets would not arrive until 2025. NRK, the Norwegian government-owned public broadcasting company, reported in August that Norway planned on giving Ukraine between five and 10 planes, although no timetable has been provided for delivery.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said in October that the earliest that Ukraine could expect F-16s would be this spring.

Ukrainian pilots are being trained by an international coalition on how to fly F-16s. Training has taken place in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania and the United States. France will also train Ukraine's pilots on F-16s in 2024.

While F-16s are no longer the most technologically advanced fighter jets, their addition to Kyiv's military would still be an upgrade to the Ukrainian Air Force. Ukraine has mostly relied on Soviet-era MiG and Sukhoi jets since Russian President Vladimir Putin began his invasion in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Putin has dismissed assertions that the F-16 will change the course of the conflict. During an Eastern Economic Forum speech in Russia in September, the Russian leader said the procurement of the jets by Ukraine "simply prolongs the conflict."