Kyiv [Ukraine], July 13: Bloomberg on July 12 quoted several NATO sources as saying that Ukraine could receive six F-16 fighters this summer, and up to 20 by the end of this year.
At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Washington DC, the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands announced that the first F-16 fighters were "on their way" to Ukraine.
Ukraine is expected to receive its first F-16 jets this summer, a year after Denmark and the Netherlands formed a "fighter alliance" with nine other countries at last year's NATO summit in Lithuania. Kyiv is also expected to receive F-16s from Belgium and Norway. Oslo announced on July 10 that it would deliver six fighters to Ukraine starting this year.
However, NATO is concerned about the lack of suitable runways for F-16s to take off, as well as difficulties with maintenance.
The Bloomberg article said that the challenges were so serious that experts were skeptical that transferring F-16s to Ukraine was a wise decision or a costly favor for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to a NATO official, fighters must be adapted to each type of mission, such as reconnaissance or combat, while the logistics of supporting the aircraft are very complicated, from maintenance, spare parts, to finding specialized engineers.
In addition, Ukraine currently lacks runways long enough and places safe enough to protect F-16s from Russian attacks, the official said.
Another official added that Kyiv is looking to resolve the issues within a few months, while the task usually takes three to four years. The difficulties mean that Ukraine will likely receive only 15 to 24 F-16s, far fewer than the 300 that Kyiv officials have requested, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper