MOSCOW, FACTBOX. /TASS/. On January 12, 2026, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that announced Russian troops delivered a strike by the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile system on January 9, crippling the Lvov state aircraft repair plant in western Ukraine that provided maintenance for F-16 fighter jets and produced long-range attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). TASS FACTBOX has prepared a report on F-16 fighter jets, their deliveries to Ukraine, and losses during the special military operation.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American light, all-weather, multirole fighter jet of the fourth generation. Developed in the first half of the 1970s by General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin). The YF-16 prototype first flew in 1974, and production versions have been in production since 1975. A total of over 4,600 aircraft of various modifications have been produced. The fighter jet is in service with more than 20 countries.
'Fighter Coalition'
The decision to supply F-16 fighters to Ukraine was made by the United States and Western European countries in early 2023. In July of that year, at the NATO summit in Vilnius, 11 alliance countries signed a memorandum establishing a ‘coalition’ to transfer F-16 fighters decommissioned from their air forces to Ukraine and to train Ukrainian pilots and technical personnel for them. The coalition was led by the Netherlands and Denmark. It included Belgium, the UK, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden, and was later joined by the United States, France, Greece, and Bulgaria.
In October 2023, the United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands formed another coalition, the stated goal of which was to assist Ukraine in creating a new air force based on the F-16. It focused on creating ground infrastructure for the fighters.
Pilot Training
In 2023-2024, some Ukrainian flight and maintenance personnel underwent training in Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United States. Since late 2024, training for Ukrainian personnel has been provided by a training center in Romania (established at the Fetesti Air Base in the southeast of the country). The Netherlands provided the F-16AM/BM trainers, the American company Lockheed Martin provided the instructors, and other coalition members are contributing to the center's funding and its training process.
Deliveries to Ukraine
In August 2023, the US government officially approved the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by European countries. Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium were the first to announce the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine. At that time, they promised to deliver approximately 80 aircraft to Kiev. According to statements by politicians and media reports from these countries, the Netherlands said it intended to deliver 24 aircraft Ukraine in 2024-2025, Denmark - 19, Norway - 6 to 12, and Belgium promised to send 30 fighters by 2028. In addition, these countries and the United States promised to provide to Kiev several aircraft for spare parts.
On July 31, 2024, American media reported that the first F-16s had arrived in Ukraine and had already conducted their first flights. On August 4, Kiev confirmed the receipt of the first batch of fighters, without naming their country of origin.
In October 2024, it was announced that the Netherlands had delivered the first batch of 24 promised aircraft. In February 2025, the arrival of the second batch was announced, and the final batch was delivered in May 2025.
In November 2024, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that 6 fighters had been delivered to Ukraine, with plans to deliver 13 more. They presumably arrived in December of that year. In May 2025, the Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported that some of Norway's F-16s had already been transferred to Ukraine (the exact number was not disclosed) and that Oslo would complete the delivery of the fighters to Kiev in 2025. However, no further deliveries were subsequently announced.
In October 2025, Belgium announced a postponement of the delivery of decommissioned F-16 fighters to Ukraine (the first batch was planned for September).
According to information published by the American news portal Business Insider on January 8, 2026, in 2024-2025, Ukraine received 44 of the 87 F-16 fighters promised to it by European countries.
Lost Ukrainian F-16s
On August 29, 2024, Ukraine reported the loss of the first F-16 delivered to the country, without providing details. Member of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) Maryana Bezuglaya, a regular critic of the Ukrainian armed forces leadership, claimed that it was mistakenly shot down by a missile from a US-made Patriot air defense system transferred to Ukraine. Following this, the commander of the Ukrainian air force, Nikolay Oleshchuk (who was put on the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring, Russia’s financial watchdog), was dismissed. However, Kiev claimed his resignation was not related to the loss of the aircraft and the pilot's death.
On April 12, 2025, Ukraine reported the death of an F-16 pilot, however, gave no details. On April 13, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that the aircraft was shot down by Russian air defense systems.
On May 16, 2025, Kiev reported that an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a combat mission. The Ukrainian armed forces reported an emergency on board and that the pilot ejected.