What is the F-16 fighter jet and why does Ukraine want it?

British and Dutch plans to help Ukraine get its F-16 fighter jets have again put the United States and some of its closest European allies at odds over what weapons the West should send Kiev to defend against the Russian invasion.

Even if the Biden administration overcomes its long-held reluctance to give Ukraine the US planes, the F-16 would at least not be used in combat for months, officials and military analysts say. But with no end in sight, the F-16 has become the latest advanced weapon that Ukraine and some of its backers say they need to fend off Russia – both in the current conflict and in years to come.

Here’s a look at the F-16 fighter, why Ukraine wants it and why the Biden administration is hesitant.

What is the F-16?

First flown in 1976the F-16 “Fighting Falcon” is a supersonic fighter jet used by the military in 25 countries for air-to-air combat and air-to-ground attack. It has flown in US conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, the Persian Gulf and on domestic defense missions in US airspace.

The F-16 is being built by US defense contractor Lockheed Martin and manufacturers in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway — four countries that have quietly indicated their willingness to transfer some of their F-16s to Kiev, according to a senior Ukrainian official. to take.

It is generally considered versatile, lightweight and cost-effective – with a price tag of to $63 million, depending on the model, according to some estimates. There are currently about 3,000 in active military service around the world, including hundreds in the United States Air Force and Navy.

Why does Ukraine want them so badly?

The F-16 has both offensive and defensive capabilities. In the short term, Ukrainian officials say F-16s and other advanced Western fighter jets are needed to bolster their air defenses as Kiev’s existing ground-launched systems are exhausted by a constant barrage of Russian missiles. They can be launched in minutes and are equipped to shoot down incoming missiles and enemy aircraft.

Without modern fighter jets, “no air defense system will be perfect,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky told European leaders gathered at a summit in Reykjavik this week.

Leaving aside the current conflict, many officials across Europe and in the United States believe the F-16 could be an important deterrent to future aggression against Ukraine by Russia’s vastly superior air force.

Why is the US so reluctant to send them?

Training Ukrainian pilots to fly Western jets will take months, and the Biden administration says it would be better off sending weapons that will now aid Ukraine in its forthcoming counter-offensive against Russia – a fight many in the West hope it will be a turning point in the war. . A senior US official said this week that the cost of sending F-16s would absorb much of an already dwindling pot of US war funding.

At a hearing last month, Celeste A. Wallander, a deputy secretary of defense, said the administration is focused on Ukraine’s military needs, but also on what’s practical. “There’s also a timing issue: what do they need right now, what have we focused on for the battles they face, what can we deliver that will be timely and effective?” she said.

She said modern Western fighter jets, such as F-16s, are “about eighth on the list” of priorities.

What are the chances that Ukraine will eventually get F-16s?

Likely fair to high, according to officials and military analysts. The Biden administration has previously said no to several types of advanced weapons for Ukraine — including HIMARS missile launchers, Abrams tanks and Patriot missiles — to turn around under pressure from European allies and Congress.

Under what analysts describe as the most likely scenario, the United States would issue re-export licenses to other countries that have F-16s, allowing them to transfer their jets to Ukraine. Given the cost of each aircraft, it is less likely that the United States would send its own F-16s to Ukraine, although it is not impossible.

If Western allies plan to upgrade the aging Soviet-era air fleet with more modern jets, F-16s are “the most likely outcome,” says Douglas Barrie, a military space expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

He also said that it would be unlikely for Britain, with its “special relationship” with America, to continue supplying F-16s if the Biden administration was not at least somewhat on board: “It would be surprising, so to speak gently,” he said.