NEW YORK, July 12. /TASS/. Ukraine will get fewer F-16 fighter jets this summer due to a language barrier between Ukrainian pilots and their foreign instructors as well as complex logistics of delivering spare parts, Bloomberg said citing sources.
One of them claimed that Ukraine would be able to field a squadron of between 15 and 24 jets, short of the 300 planned. Another source spoke about 20 F-16s that Kiev expects to get by the end of the year.
Jim Townsend, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said that Russia’s expertise in hitting runways would pose another problem.
"Those airfields are going to be nice, juicy targets, and the Russians have already been hitting some of them, just as a welcome to the real world for these F-16s," the expert said.
In addition, he pointed out that both warring parties rely on drones and Russia has bolstered its air defenses, which again raises doubts about the feasibility of sending the jets to Kiev.
Commenting on this situation, a Ukrainian official "conceded there have been delays around training, personnel and maintenance."
Jake Sullivan, US President Joe Biden’s top national security adviser, and a spokesman for Lockheed Martin Corp., maker of the F-16, declined to comment on delays in shipments of the fighter jets to Ukraine.
Earlier, the White House press service issued a joint statement by the leaders of Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States, stating that the Western countries planned to provide Ukraine with squadrons of F-16 fighter jets. Ukrainian pilots will be able to fly the F-16s as early as this summer, as the transfer process for these jets is now underway, the statement said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that the deliveries of new weapons and equipment, including F-16s, to Ukraine would not reverse the situation on the frontlines, but will result in its protraction. He also pointed out that if supplied to Ukraine, the F-16 fighters will burn exactly like any other military equipment, which is hyped by the West, does.