The first of the long-awaited Western F-16 fighter jets pledged to Ukraine will arrive "in a few weeks," the Washington Post (WP) reported on July 28.
Ukraine is awaiting at least 79 F-16s from the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway, with up to 20 expected to arrive this year.
Kyiv has been calling for these U.S.-made fourth-generation jets since the very first year of the full-scale war in order to bolster its air force, which made up of Soviet-made aircraft and has been significantly depleted over the past years of war.
Despite promises by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on July 10 that the first Dutch and Danish F-16s are already on their way, no delivery has been confirmed so far.
The planes are likely to be used to strengthen Ukraine's air defense and shoot down missiles, drones, and aircraft, not to strike Russian ground forces and other targets near the front, WP wrote.
According to WP, the F-16s will not be brought close to the front line at first, so it is unclear whether they will be able to deter Russian planes flying in from Russian airspace.
Ukraine's F-16s will carry the advanced AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles, which are also used for NASAMS ground-based systems, WP reported, citing a Ukrainian defense official.
But Ukraine currently does not have enough of these missiles, so they will have to be split between the F-16 and NASAMS, according to the official cited.
A senior Ukrainian military official told WP that Russia is preparing for Ukraine to receive F-16s.
At the end of last year, Russia launched several missiles with dummy warheads from S-400 systems in Dzhankoy in occupied Crimea. The missiles reached the city of Kremenchuk in Poltava Oblast, which is located more than 320 kilometers away from the Ukrainian-Russian state border.
Moscow may try to use the S-400 to shoot down F-16s, according to a senior Ukrainian military official.
U.S. officials have previously said that the F-16s are unlikely to give Ukraine a decisive advantage because of Russia's powerful air defense. Ukrainian officials, in turn, said the West is delivering F-16s, like other equipment, in too few numbers and too late.
Chris York
(Updated: )
