WSJ: US to equip F-16 jets for Ukraine with advanced missiles
Meanwhile, Ukrainian pilots have been training how to operate the jets in the UK, the US, and Denmark.
The US has agreed to arm dozens of F-16 jets being sent to Ukraine with American-made missiles and other advanced weapons, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing a high-ranking US official.
Denmark and the Netherlands are preparing to send the first US-made F-16 jets to Ukraine, with aircraft from Belgium and Norway to follow the delivery. However, the source of the critical weaponry for these aircraft remains unclear.
Although the Pentagon has limited stockpiles and production capabilities, it will supply precision-guided missiles and advanced missiles to the F-16 in sufficient quantities to meet Ukraine’s most urgent needs, the WSJ has specified.
Major General Rolf Folland, Commander of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, stated that the aircraft is useless without advanced weaponry.
The US plans to equip F-16 jets with AGM-88 HARM air-to-ground missiles, extended-range Joint Direct Attack Munitions that turn unguided bombs into smart weapons, and so-called small-diameter bombs that explode with a small radius of destruction.
In addition, the country will supply advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, known as AMRAAM, and short-range air-to-air missiles – AIM-9X.
According to the official, many countries in Europe were reluctant to send large quantities of their limited stockpiles of air-launched munitions to Kyiv.
As a result, Western allies devised a solution that the Pentagon called a “jump start”: European countries decided to pool their finances to purchase the appropriate weaponry from the US for delivery to Ukraine.
Read also:
- F-16 jets to be operational in Ukraine by 2024, says Ukrainian diplomat
- Can Ukraine’s coming F-16s crack fortress Crimea?
- For Ukraine, F-16 not a silver bullet but will mark shift to Western tactics, NATO air commander says
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