Belgium is willing to train Ukrainian fighter pilots to fly F-16s. It is not possible to supply devices yourself. We have too few available.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron made it clear on Monday that they want to train Ukrainian pilots to fly modern Western fighter jets. According to Macron, “several European countries are still willing to do this” and “talks are ongoing with the Americans”. Ukraine has been asking for fighter jets for some time.
Belgium is one of those European countries that wants to train Ukrainian pilots – more specifically to learn how to handle F-16s. This is what the cabinet of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) has announced. “During the summit in The Hague earlier this month, the issue of the F-16s was also discussed during the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Prime Minister. We have said that we cannot supply aircraft, but we can train pilots.”
The Belgian Air Force has been flying the F-16 from the American manufacturer Lockheed Martin since the late 1970s. So she has tons of experience with the device. Experience that the Ukrainian Air Force lacks. If it ever comes to the delivery of Western fighter jets – which seems to be growing by the day – Ukrainian pilots will need a crash course.
Baltic states
The reason why Belgium cannot deliver F-16s to Ukraine is because all Belgian aircraft are in use. For the defense of the airspace of the Benelux and the Baltic States. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are NATO allies that feel Moscow’s hot breath on their necks. These are therefore assignments that Belgium cannot or does not want to stop just like that, the cabinet of Prime Minister De Croo clarifies.
The Belgian army still has about fifty F-16s (on an original order of 160). In the coming years, the remaining aircraft will gradually be replaced by 34 new F-35s. But this may be too late to help Ukraine out of the war with Russia. The first Belgian F-35 normally rolls off the assembly line in Texas at the end of this year.
“By the end of 2023, two Belgian F-16s will be withdrawn from circulation due to having achieved 8,000 flight hours. After obtaining those flight hours, both aircraft will be used for spare parts for the rest of the Belgian fleet and/or for the education and training of our technical staff who are committed to keeping our F-16 fleet operational on a daily basis. cabinet of Minister of Defense Ludivine Dedonder (PS).
The situation is different in the Netherlands and Denmark. The Dutch Air Force is already working on the transition to the F-35. The device has been in use since 2019. At the same time, the Netherlands still has 24 F-16s on hand. Which can serve in Ukraine. According to Prime Minister Mark Rutte, there are “no taboos” and work is being done “intensively” on the file. Denmark is also making the switch to F-35. The Danes want to make a decision about their F-16 fleet (43 aircraft) by the summer.
In any case, permission is needed from Washington DC to send American-made F-16s to the front in Ukraine. Just as Berlin had to give formal permission to Poland, among others, for the delivery of modern Leopard tanks at the beginning of this year.
Red lines
The taboo surrounding F-16s for Ukraine seems to have gradually disappeared. On the one hand, there is the military need for combat aircraft. The country is rapidly running out of its Soviet-era anti-aircraft missiles, threatening to lose the war in the skies against the large and modern Russian air force. The fact that Ukraine still survives in the air for the time being has everything to do with the fear of the Russian fighter jets for the Ukrainian air defense.
On the other hand, the Western allies also seem to be less and less hesitant to cross Moscow’s ‘red lines’. Earlier this year, Poland and Slovakia already delivered about twenty MiG-29s to Ukraine. The MiG-29 is the (less performant) Soviet counterpart of the American F-16. At the end of last week, the United Kingdom pledged to supply Storm Shadow long-range missiles. The missiles can travel more than 250 kilometers.
Last Friday, the Belgian government gave the green light to a new package of support measures for Ukraine. This involves 92 million euros. Half of the amount goes to military support, the other half is support for the population and also serves to ensure the Belgian diplomatic presence in Ukraine.