Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, May 3: The United States has approved a $310 million military support package for Ukraine focused on training and sustaining F-16 fighter jets, the Pentagon announced on Friday. The deal, authorised by the US State Department, does not include any actual fighter aircraft.
According to the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the package comprises aircraft modifications, flight training, maintenance support, spare parts, ground handling tools, and specialised software systems to support the integration of F-16 jets into Ukraine’s air force.
The primary contractors for the package are Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, BAE Systems, and AAR Corporation. However, the DSCA clarified that the aircraft themselves will be provided by NATO allies and not directly from the United States.
This latest approval builds on a previous $266.4 million sustainment deal sanctioned in December 2024 under the Joe Biden administration, which included mission planning systems and critical maintenance equipment for Ukraine.
NATO allies, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Belgium, have pledged to supply 79 F-16s to Ukraine, with deliveries expected to continue throughout 2025.
Meanwhile, UK-based aviation data firm FlightGlobal reported the recent sighting of an F-16 fuselage being loaded onto an Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft at a desert airfield. The plane later landed at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona known as the ‘boneyard’ before departing for Poland the next day.
Tucson’s Kgun 9 news channel reported that the F-16s seen at the site were retired US jets being dismantled for spare parts. A statement from the Department of the Air Force confirmed this, stating: “These F-16s were retired from active US use and are not flyable. Importantly, they lack critical components such as an engine or radar, and could not be reconstituted for operational use.”
The move is part of a broader Western effort to boost Ukraine’s air power amid ongoing Russian aggression, with Ukrainian pilots currently undergoing training on the fourth-generation fighter jets in Europe and the US.