The Biden administration has signaled a shift away from dispatching American civilian personnel to Ukraine to service F-16 fighter jets due to security concerns, while the European Union is anticipated to assume primary responsibility for maintenance. This assessment comes from sources cited by the Wall Street Journal. [Source: Wall Street Journal]
Officials indicate that the US Security Council reviewed a proposal to deploy civilian contractors to Ukraine to service the fighters and other equipment. At the time, the US intelligence community judged such a move to be highly risky. [Source: Wall Street Journal]
The report notes that the burden of upkeep would largely fall on European contractors, who are expected to take on most, if not all, of the maintenance load for the F-16 fleet. [Source: Wall Street Journal]
On August 29, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the loss of its first F-16 in combat. The aircraft had been used to counter a missile strike by Russian forces. During the mission, contact with one pilot was lost and the fighter subsequently crashed. [Source: Ukrainian General Staff]
Earlier, the State Duma acknowledged the first F-16 loss in Ukraine, marking a notable moment in the evolving air warfare narrative. [Source: Russian State Duma]