F-16 fighters (illustration)
©US Air Force/Wikimedia Commons
The American authorities do not allow Ukrainian pilots to undergo combat training on F-16 fighter jets from European countries. Washington fears that secret technologies may end up in the wrong hands and is not going to transfer planes to Kyiv, writes The New York Times, referring to a high-ranking Ukrainian official.
The publication explains that although some European states are ready to give away the F-16, they need the approval of the United States, which created the fighters, to transfer the aircraft. Without this consent, the training of pilots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be reduced to the study of technical language and tactical exercises, the newspaper specifies.
According to the NYT, the Biden administration does not want to give away the fighter jets because of their high cost. In addition, the White House is afraid that American secret technologies, including the radar installed in the F-16, may fall into the wrong hands. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed on May 17 that the United States still had no intention of supplying fighter jets to Kyiv.
At the same time, according to Politico, citing a source in the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense doesn’t mind against possible deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by other states. The interlocutor of the publication stressed that such a decision had not yet been made by the countries.
