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Ukraine will not receive Belgian F-16s this year - Le Soir

Ukraine will not receive Belgian F-16s this year - Le Soir Photo: F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)

Ukraine will not receive the promised Belgian F-16 fighter jets this year. This is due to the lack of sufficiently trained pilots, Le Soir informs.

According to the news agency, the delay in the delivery of Belgian F-16 fighter jets is due to the lack of sufficiently trained Ukrainian pilots and a shortage of spare parts. This is also related to the delay in the delivery of the first F-35 jets by Lockheed Martin to the Ukrainian Air Force.

Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder recently visited Poland, where she reviewed the Belgian Army's operations for 2025. As a result, it became clear that the first delivery of F-16 fighter-bombers will not take place this year.

"Belgium will do everything possible to expedite the first delivery, if feasible, by the end of 2024," the report states.

Transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

In 2023, Ukraine and its allies formed an aviation coalition to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine needs at least 128 F-16 fighter jets.

In August 2024, it was officially confirmed that the first F-16 fighter jets had arrived in Ukraine from its partners. It is not yet known exactly how many jets Ukraine has received. The first F-16s were provided to Ukraine by the Netherlands and Denmark.

In July of this year, it became known that Ukraine already has delivery schedules for F-16s from partner countries, but these are long-term plans. At that time, it was also announced that Belgium would deliver 30 fighter jets to Ukraine by the end of 2028.

Currently, Ukrainian pilots continue their training on F-16s. The training is taking place in several countries, including the United States.