The Biden administration on Tuesday announced that it had signed off on a deal to provide Ukraine with $266 million worth of spare parts and technical support for its growing fleet of F-16 fighter aircraft. The news comes days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a second batch of F-16s provided by Denmark had arrived to join the fight against a Russian invasion force.
Items supplied included the Air Force’s Joint Mission Planning System; the engine Component Improvement Program; spare and repair parts; weapons software; classified and unclassified software and delivery support, among other items.
The support package also includes personnel training and training equipment; U.S. government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services, officials with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Tuesday while announcing the deal.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe,” the DSCA said.
The proposed sale will “improve Ukraine’s capability to meet current and future threats by further equipping it to conduct self-defense and regional security missions with a more robust air defense capability,” the DSCA said.
“The first batch of [F-16s] provided by the Danes are already shooting down Russian missiles and rescuing our people and our infrastructure,” Mr. Zelenskyy said Saturday on his Telegram social messaging page. “Now our air shield is additionally reinforced. If all partners were just that determined, it would have been possible to make Russian terror impossible.”
The U.S. government said the deal will improve Ukraine’s capability to meet current and future threats by enhancing Kyiv’s ability to conduct self-defense and regional security missions with more air capability.
The White House had been hesitant about providing Ukraine with the F-16, a multi-role, supersonic jet fighter used by militaries in more than 25 countries. Biden administration officials feared it could escalate the conflict with Moscow and believed Ukrainians would be unable to master the advanced pilot skills needed to take on the Russians.
But more than a year ago, President Biden loosened the U.S. imposed restrictions on providing Ukraine with the state-of-the-art fighter jets.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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