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The United States approved a plan to send F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands and Denmark to Ukraine, press reports said Friday. The planes, which are made by Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), may significantly help Ukraine in its efforts to push Russian troops from its territory.
“I welcome the U.S. decision to clear the way for delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine. It allows us to follow through on the training of Ukrainian pilots,” Kajsa Ollongren, the Dutch defense minister, said on blogging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ukraine has yet to receive any F-16s, which are capable of air-to-air combat and air-to-ground strikes, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The Netherlands has 24 of the jets in operation and another 18 that aren’t currently operational, a spokesman told the newspaper.
“This marks a major milestone for Ukraine to defend its people and its country,” Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on X.
Denmark also said providing Ukraine with F-16s would be discussed.
“The government has said several times that a donation is a natural next step after training,” Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, Denmark’s defense minister, said to news agency Ritzau on Friday. “We are discussing it with close allies, and I expect we will soon be able to be more concrete about that.”
Ukrainian officials this week said they didn’t expect any of the jet fighters to arrive this year. U.S. officials previously said the Ukrainian military won’t obtain F-16s until next year.
