While US President Joe Biden’s administration has abandoned the idea of sending American civilian personnel to Ukraine to maintain F-16 fighter jets due to security concerns, the EU is expected to take responsibility for maintaining the fighters instead. This was reported by Wall Street Journal He cited US officials.
The sources emphasize that the US Security Council considered a proposal to send civilian contractors to Ukraine to service fighter jets and other equipment. The US intelligence community at the time considered this an extremely risky action.
The publication emphasizes that all hopes are placed on European contractors, who will assume most, if not all, of the responsibility for servicing the F-16.
August 29 at the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ApprovedThe Ukrainian Armed Forces lost its first F-16 fighter jet during combat operations, the General Staff said. The fighter jets were used to repel a missile attack by Russian troops. During the operation, communication with one of the pilots was lost. It was later revealed that the fighter crashed.
Previously in the State Duma appreciated First F-16 loss in Ukraine.