F-16 jets: UK, Netherlands are working to procure fighters for Ukraine, Downing Street says

London
CNN
 — 

Britain and the Netherlands are working on an “international coalition” to assist Ukraine procure F-16 fighter jets that Kyiv says are important to its protection as Russia ramps up its aerial strikes, a spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned Tuesday.

The two NATO allies are making an attempt to get the US-made warplanes to Ukraine in addition to coaching Kyiv’s pilots to fly them, in accordance to the Downing Street readout following a gathering between Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland.

Ukraine, which has been saying the fighter jets are important to defend towards Russian missile and drone assaults, welcomed the announcement from the British and Dutch leaders.

“We need F-16s, and I am grateful to our allies for their decision to work in this direction, including training our pilots,” mentioned Andriy Yermak, head of the workplace of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Yermak mentioned Belgium, one other NATO ally, particularly, had “confirmed its readiness to train” Ukrainian pilots.

Britain doesn’t have F-16s in its air power, however the Netherlands and Belgium do. The US Air Force has nearly 800 F-16s in its fleet.

Speaking within the United Kingdom Monday, Zelensky welcomed guarantees of recent navy help from European leaders – however renewed his calls for to be supplied with trendy fighter jets.

Following a go to with Sunak, Zelensky hinted that Ukraine is nearer to receiving F-16s, saying that Kyiv and London have been “actively moving forward” on a plan. Zelensky additionally thanked the UK for agreeing to prepare Ukrainian pilots.

The US Air Force calls the F-16, which first flew in 1978, a “relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system.”

The single-engine jets can act in air-to-air or ground-attack modes, flying in all climate circumstances with a variety of 500 miles (860 kilometers).

It can be a considerable improve to the plane in Ukraine’s fleet now, largely Soviet-era warplanes that have been both in Ukraine’s air power earlier than the Russian invasion or have been given to Kyiv by different European states like Poland that used to be within the Soviet orbit.

Despite Zelensky’s repeated pleas for F-16s, a lot of Ukraine’s allies have been reluctant to provide Kyiv with weapons that may attain Russian soil.

Early on within the conflict, the US believed that supplying Ukraine with new fighter jets would threat an escalation between NATO and Russia.

Meanwhile, US and allied officers have beforehand mentioned the jets can be impractical as a result of they require appreciable coaching and Russia has in depth anti-aircraft methods that might simply shoot them down.

Any motion of F-16s to Ukraine would require US approval and US President Joe Biden mentioned earlier this yr that Kyiv didn’t want the fighter jets.

But CNN reported in March that the US is working with Ukrainian pilots within the United States to decide how lengthy it could take to prepare them to fly F-16s, in accordance to sources briefed on the matter.