Ukraine expects to receive the first six F-16 fighter jets this summer and up to 20 of them by the end of 2024, Bloomberg reported on July 12, citing undisclosed sources in NATO.
During this year's NATO summit, held on July 9-11 in Washington, the U.S., Denmark, and the Netherlands announced that the first F-16 fighter jets were "on their way" to Ukraine.
NATO is yet concerned about logistical difficulties in maintaining these aircraft and the lack of suitable runways in Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.
"The challenges have been so severe that they've raised doubts about the wisdom of sending the jets to Ukraine and whether doing so now amounts to a very costly show of support to President Volodymyr Zelensky," the article read.
A NATO official who spoke to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity listed three main reasons that raised doubts about the aircraft's delivery to Ukraine.
The fighter jets must be reconfigured depending on their tasks, such as reconnaissance or combat, while the logistics of supporting the planes are complex, from the need for spare parts to maintenance demands to finding engineers, according to the source.
Ukraine also does not have enough long, high-quality runways required for the F-16s, as well as shelters to protect them from Russian strikes, the source added.
Another NATO official told Bloomberg that Ukraine is trying to achieve "in a matter of months" what usually takes "three to four years."
"The result is that Ukraine may be able to field a squadron of F-16s, anything from 15 to 24 jets, well short of the 300 its leaders have called for," Bloomberg said, citing an undisclosed source.
Chris York
Ukraine was expected to receive the first F-16 jets this summer, a year after Denmark and the Netherlands established the "fighter jet coalition" with nine other countries at the previous NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023.
In addition to the Netherlands and Denmark, Kyiv also expects to receive fighter jets from Belgium and Norway.
Norway announced on July 10 that it will donate six F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, with the deliveries starting this year.
