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.
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.
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.
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.
Earlier, the State Duma acknowledged the first F-16 loss in Ukraine, marking a notable moment in the evolving air warfare narrative.