Partners ready to provide F-16s, but Ukraine needs to complete preparation
Photo: Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat (armyinform com ua)
Our partners are ready to provide Ukraine with F-16 multi-role fighters. But Ukraine needs to complete the preparatory work, according to Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force.
"Our partners are ready to provide us with equipment. The question is whether everything is ready for it to work in Ukraine," he says.
Ihnat emphasizes that pilots, infrastructure, engineers, and "other factors that are less talked about" must be ready for the transfer of F-16s.
"Multi-role aircraft are aviation complexes. It is necessary to take a comprehensive approach to solving their deployment in Ukraine, adoption, and combat use. Of course, we could consider various statements by European leaders that we are ready to hand over the aircraft to you. Well, "already hand them over" means that we simply have them territorially. This is not the option that Ukraine needs. We need them to hit the occupier from the air," the spokesperson adds.
F-16 for Ukraine
Earlier, Ukraine's allies announced the creation of an aviation coalition to provide our country with modern F-16 fighters. The coalition was led by the Netherlands and Denmark.
Recently, it has been officially announced that the first group of Ukrainian pilots has completed the basic training program in the UK and started training on F-16 fighters in Denmark.
On December 22, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the Dutch government had decided to prepare the first 18 F-16 fighters for delivery to Ukraine.
The Pentagon said that Ukraine could receive the first F-16 fighters this year.
