The donated jets could be grounded due to maintenance delays, The Wall Street Journal has claimed<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s NATO-donated F-16 fleet is out of commission more often than it engages Russian drones, The Wall Street Journal has claimed.
\nThe American-produced fighter jets were touted as the latest \u201cgamechanger\u201d weapon in Kiev\u2019s conflict with Russia, a tool that will help \u201cachieve goals outside of Ukraine,\u201d as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said when the first batch was set to arrive in the summer of 2024.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian media once claimed Ukraine flying F-16s was \u201ca really big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0 united24media.com <\/p>\n
However, a key EU member in the European-led scheme cannot keep up with necessary maintenance of the fleet, according to the newspaper.
\nWhat is the F-16 initiative?
\nThe plan was launched in 2023, as Ukraine\u2019s fleet of Soviet-built military aircraft was dwindling. Pro-Kiev propaganda implied that the US-made multirole jets would help Ukrainian forces challenge Russia\u2019s air dominance over the front line. But it was hardly a secret that they would be kept far away from Russian SAMs and fighter jets and only engage long-range drones and cruise missiles.
\nDonor nations announced they were prepared to spend years training Ukrainian pilots, refurbishing the aircraft they were willing to spare, and happily signing deals for modern replacements to bolster their own militaries \u2013 the F-16 initiative was effectively a NATO-backed pyramid scheme allowing everyone to spend big and upgrade their air forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen shows an F-16 to Vladimir Zelensky during his visit to Copenhagen in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0 Ukrainian Presidency \/ Anadolu Agency via Getty Images <\/p>\n
Ukraine has since received about 40 jets, roughly half of what the donors pledged, and lost several of them during combat missions, reportedly after corners were cut for expediency during training courses. It is now facing winter with an acute shortage of air defense systems.
\nWhat\u2019s the problem?
\nBelgium\u2019s Sabena Aerospace Engineering, awarded a $235.5 million contract for maintenance of Ukraine\u2019s F-16 fleet, is not keeping up with the demand, according to the Wall Street Journal editorial board.
\nAn inspection that normally takes two to six weeks lasts \u201cas long as 40 weeks in Belgium,\u201d retired US Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said. Another Western source said more than half of Ukrainian jets are now in maintenance limbo, with the rest set to become grounded by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
US \u2018too late\u2019 to boost missile production \u2013 WSJ<\/p>\n
Was the issue unexpected?
\nMedia reports saying that the Ukrainian F-16 fleet is being overworked surfaced as early as July, as Kiev\u2019s shortage of ground-launched interceptor missiles became more acute. There were also indicators pointing to a bottleneck in Belgium.
\nIn April, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation reported that not one of the six F-16s that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store pledged to Ukraine in 2023 had been delivered. Four of them were not airworthy to begin with, but the two others were previously used to train Ukrainian pilots in Denmark.
\nThe six jets were stuck at a Sabena workshop in Belgium due to \u201csignificant capacity problems,\u201d the report said.
\nIs Ukraine getting more jets?
\nThere were delays in deliveries as well.
\nBelgium promised in 2024 to transfer 30 aircraft set to be phased out by its air force, which was expecting F-35 replacements. Then-Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder said Ukraine would start receiving the old jets \u201cas soon as the F-35s arrive on Belgian soil,\u201d but no transfers have been reported since.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
The great Patriot hoarding: Why Kiev\u2019s donors have locked their missile vaults<\/p>\n
Most of the aircraft that Kiev did get reportedly came from the Netherlands and Denmark, the co-leaders of the F-16 initiative.
\nWhy does Ukraine have air defense problems?
\nA shortage of Western weapons partially caused Ukraine\u2019s current situation.
\nWhen this summer Vladimir Zelensky announced a 40-day \u201cpressure campaign\u201d of long-rage strikes on refineries, civilian ships, and commercial warehouses, his team reportedly hoped that images of smoke-plumes stretching over big Russian cities would support his bid to receive more Patriot missile interceptors from the limited US stockpile.
\nIf true, the plan backfired. NATO nations are scrambling to provide what Kiev wants, while the economic damage caused by Russian retaliation is mounting. And Ukraine already has a $27 billion military budget hole that European donors are struggling to fill.<\/p>\n
Russian military service members stand near a captured M1 Abrams main battle tank used by Ukraine during an incursion into Russia\u2019s Kursk Region.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Sputnik \/ Stanislav Krasilnikov <\/p>\n
Ukrainian forces previously learned that Western arms gifts come with caveats. Donated NATO artillery systems lacked interoperability and were described as a \u201czoo\u201d by troops. Much-hyped NATO battle tanks turned out to be mostly useless in drone-driven warfare and had to be kept away from the front line.
\nCan Ukraine come up with alternatives?<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Ukraine admits failure to plug $27 bn defense gap<\/p>\n
Zelensky puts on a brave face talking about the dire situation. Last week he claimed Ukraine had successfully tested four new interceptor drones designed to shoot down faster-moving jet UAVs \u2013 the kind of targets the WSJ claimed F-16s are well-suited to take down.
\nBut an earlier Reuters report said trials in July \u201cdid not go to plan\u201d as the prototypes lost control and \u201ccrashed into nearby fields and forests.\u201d
\nUkrainian opposition lawmaker Sergey Rakhmanin, who sits on the national defense committee, has said Kiev missed Russia\u2019s rapid development of jet kamikaze drones. He said Ukrainian interceptors cost up to $100,000 apiece and that scaling up production would require too much time, even if funding becomes available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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