The first batch of long-awaited F-16 jets have arrived in Ukraine, Lithuania’s foreign minister and a United States official have said, an effort Kyiv has said will help rebuild its depleted air force.
Ukraine has been eager to acquire F-16s, built by Lockheed Martin, because of their destructive power and global availability. The fighter jet is equipped with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles.
“F-16s in Ukraine. Another impossible thing turned out to be totally possible,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on X on Wednesday.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the delivery had been completed. The Ukrainian government has not confirmed receipt of the jets.
Ukraine has been pushing its Western allies for F-16s for months, saying they were critical in fighting back against the onslaught of missiles Russia has fired against it. The West has moved haltingly towards providing the jets, after previous concerns that arming Ukraine with advanced weaponry would further escalate the war with Russia.
The US has also been training Ukrainian pilots on how to fly the jets and has already graduated the first group of pilots on its operation.
US President Joe Biden authorised sending the US-built warplanes to Ukraine in August 2023. That came after months of pressure from Kyiv and internal debate within the US administration.
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway – all NATO members – have committed to providing Ukraine with more than 60 planes. That number is dwarfed by the Russian jet fleet, which is estimated to be about 10 times larger.
Ukraine needs at least 130 F-16 fighter jets to neutralise Russian air power, according to Ukrainian officials. F-16s can fly up to twice the speed of sound and have a maximum range of more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometres).
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