The White House signaled that it won’t block allies from giving their F-16s fighter jets to Ukraine, CNN reported on Friday, May 19th. However, the State Department has received no such request so far.
As we recently reported, following President Zelensky’s Western European tour, the UK and the Netherlands teamed up to create an international “fighter jet coalition” to help procure the necessary air combat power for Ukraine—not by giving away the much-needed aircraft themselves (even though the Dutch did imply some willingness), but by lobbying in other capitals on behalf of Kyiv.
While Ukraine has received a few Soviet-made fighter jets from Poland and Slovakia before, now Kyiv specifically pushes for 40 to 50 pieces of the more modern U.S.-made F-16s. But even though many countries signaled a readiness to join the international effort and even to help train Ukrainian pilots, none of them have offered any actual aircraft so far.
As confirmed by the U.S. State Department as well, no countries have even requested Washington’s approval for transferring F-16s. Under the law, in case any of the allies were to actually give some of theirs to Ukraine, they would be required to ask for U.S. permission first because of all the sensitive technology built into Lockheed Martin’s fourth-generation fighters.
The problem is that only a handful of European countries own F-16s, which cost around $30 million apiece and often constitute the bulwark of their air defense capabilities. Getting them to give these aircraft away might be a bit harder than Ukraine thought.
In Europe, only eight countries—Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Greece, Poland, Portugal, and Romania—own operational F-16s, while Slovakia and Bulgaria are looking to join them in the near future.
But while Europeans are unlikely to contribute much to Kyiv’s 50-aircraft request, other F-16 users—such as Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Israel, or Taiwan—could also be courted by the international coalition to give up some of theirs.
Of course, all eyes are truly on the U.S., which operates around 800 F-16s in its fleet alone, making it the only country to be able to fulfill Ukraine’s wishes without an unaffordable sacrifice.
Still, doing it alone would mean another $1.5 billion worth of military aid, which Washington does not seem to be too keen on granting just now. Instead, the Biden administration is only “prepared to approve the export of the jets to Ukraine if that is what allies decide to do with their supply,” U.S. officials told CNN.
However, not only Kyiv is lobbying for a change of heart, but a group of congressmen as well, who appear to grow louder by the day. As the group, made of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, wrote in a letter to President Biden on Wednesday, seen by CNN:
As a bipartisan group of lawmakers, we view the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine as essential for providing Kyiv with the air support capability required to fully defend their nation against Russia’s unprovoked, illegal, and brutal invasion, and to make the territorial gains necessary to reclaim their country.
Although negotiations might already be underway, as British PM Rishi Sunak promised to bring up the issue during the G7 Summit in Japan over the weekend, there’s little chance that the meeting will yield any definitive answers. The F16s are “not on the [G7] agenda,” John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communication, said when asked about potentially sending U.S. fighter jets to Ukraine.
Nonetheless, the jet fighter issue is expected to be addressed at the Vilnius NATO Summit in July, but in the meantime, the negotiations will not stop.
