In May 2023, President Joe Biden announced his decision to move forward with a plan to have U.S. allies train Ukrainian pilots and provide the country’s military with surplus F-16s from the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Norway. About year later, those plans became a reality as Ukraine took delivery of its first F-16s on Aug. 4, 2024.
Biden’s initial announcement started a concerted effort to train pilots, ground and maintenance crews and munitions troops, among other personnel needed to operate a fleet of the fighter jets. It was no small task, given the pressing nature of Ukraine’s war against Russia.
The arrival of F-16s in Ukraine is arguably one of the biggest developments in Ukraine’s defense since Russia invaded in February 2022.
“I am proud of all our guys who are mastering these planes and have already started using them for our country,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “I thank our team for this important result. Thank you to the partners who effectively helped with the f-16 and the first countries that accepted our request for the provision of planes.”
Receiving the planes was never a sure thing. Biden only agreed to move forward with the plan once Zelenskyy assured him that Ukraine would not use the planes in Russian territory.
That decision put into motion a full-court press to get Ukrainian airmen trained on every aspect of the F-16. Trainers launched a boot camp for language skills, maintenance and machine operations.
“We study a lot, we fly a lot, we prep for the missions and so on,” Moonfish, a Ukrainian F-16 pilot, said. “Royal Danish Air Force has taken a huge responsibility on their shoulders for carrying out this mission. And I can only imagine how hard it is to for them to train us for day to day operation, but they have been nothing but supportive.”
Support for the F-16 project in Ukraine has been a multi-national effort. While the U.S. made significant contributions, Dutch, Belgian, Norwegian and Danish forces executed a majority of the hands-on work related to training the Ukrainian Air Force and preparing the older planes for flights.
While it is too soon to know what role the F-16s will ultimately play in Ukraine’s efforts to push Russia out of its borders, intelligence experts do not expect them to make an immediate impact.
“First of all, they have a few hurdles to overcome,” Jonathon Molik, the director of intelligence and security for J2, said. “They don’t have as many pilots as they would need. They have some issues with maintenance and parts and other things, but ultimately any help in any way to Ukraine is a positive thing. And on the battle space, I would say that, again, as you had said, this is not a game changer per se. This isn’t going to switch the flat or the forward line of troops in any significant way. However, it will give Ukraine the ability to hit what we call high value targets.”
Spokespeople for the Kremlin in Russia also shared that same sentiment.
“There is no magic pill, no panacea for the armed forces of the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “After the emergence of those planes, their number will drop, they will be shot down and destroyed.”
Ukrainian airmen hold the opposite belief after going through training. Pilots said the planes feel significantly more agile, and will give them an advantage on the battlefield.
While the number of jets sent to Ukraine remains unknown, the planes on display appear to be from the Danish Air Force. They are equipped with AIM-120 missiles, an electronic warfare system, radar jammer, missile warning system and countermeasure systems.
In his official release to mark the jets’ arrival, Zelenskyy stressed that the shortage of trained pilots and the limited number of F-16s will limit their immediate battlefield impact.
However, the arrival of the first F-16s in Ukraine represents a significant step forward in their battlefield progress. It also offers a full-circle moment after nearly two years of work to acquire the American-made fighter jets.
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