Washington has told Denmark and the Netherlands that they will be permitted to hand over their F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine when the country’s pilots are trained to operate them, the US State Department said Friday.
Both Denmark and the Netherlands, which are leading the program to train Ukraine’s pilots on the F-16, have been given “formal assurances” for a jet transfer, a State Department spokesman said.
“This way, Ukraine can take full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training,” the spokesman said.
The United States keeps tight restrictions on the resale or transfer of US-made military equipment by allies.
It remained unclear how long it would take before the first Ukrainian pilots are ready to fly F-16s.
Training by an 11-nation coalition was to begin this month, and officials have said they hoped for pilots to be ready by early 2024.
Source : Zawya
