“The F-16s have arrived! » For a few hours, on December 22, 2023, the rumor spread on social networks. The Ukrainian air force had just, in a single day, shot down three Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers in the south of the country, in the Kherson region. An unprecedented feat since the start of the war, which could only have been achieved with the Western aircraft promised to kyiv, estimated a certain number of pro-Ukrainian accounts… before becoming disillusioned by the lack of evidence.
If no image or statement has come to support this rumor – the hypothesis of missiles fired by a Patriot anti-aircraft battery is now favored – its propagation shows the impatience with which the Ukrainians are watching for their first F-16s. Although designed in the 1970s, the so-called fourth-generation American fighter would make it possible to loosen the Russian grip around the front line, it is estimated in kyiv.
The range of its radar, much greater than that of the planes of Soviet origin that Ukraine currently has (mainly Mig-29s and Su-25 or Su-27), and the quality of its Air-to-air missiles would de facto repel enemy helicopters and planes, preventing them from bombing Ukrainian troops on the ground, as they currently do.
Four countries have committed to delivering devices
So far, four countries have committed to sending F-16s to Ukraine: Belgium, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. They all have old examples or those that have already been removed from their arsenals, but whose maximum number of flight hours has not yet been reached. The West remains vague about the number of devices they should deliver, but it could reach sixty, it is estimated in military circles.
The Netherlands has already transferred five of them to Romania, after removing the country’s roundels from their fuselages. In August 2023, Denmark also committed to delivering the first six copies – out of nineteen promised – around the New Year, but the Danish Ministry of Defense indicated, Saturday January 6, that they would ultimately only be delivered. ‘in the second quarter of 2024.
It is especially in terms of training pilots and ground teams – at least a dozen technicians are needed for each plane – that things are accelerating. On January 2, Norway announced the sending of two two-seater F-16s to Skrydstrup air base, Denmark, to train Ukrainian aviators. Ten instructors accompany them. On January 4, Belgium assured that it would also send two examples of the American light combat aircraft and around fifty personnel to Denmark, between March and September, to continue training the Ukrainians there.
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