At the Pentagon, US President Joe Biden's refusal to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine was met with skepticism. Congress will put pressure on the presidential administration to approve the transfer of modern aircraft.
At the same time, the Pentagon believes that Ukraine will still be handed over F-16 fighters, but later. They noted that there were already precedents when requests were rejected, but later weapons were still provided, including M1 Abrams tanks.
So, Colin Kahl, Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy, suggested that the old F-16s could be transferred to Ukraine within about 18 months. Procurement and delivery can take up to six years.
He also added that the US Air Force estimated that Ukraine would likely need about 80 aircraft to renew its fighter fleet.
The Congress discussed the expediency of transferring fighter jets to Ukraine
The Republican leadership of the House Armed Services Committee called the hearing amid growing skepticism in a segment of the party and among some Democrats about the amount of aid Washington has agreed to Ukraine.
While a minority of Republicans questioned whether Washington should even help Ukraine at all, several others backed the Democrats that the administration was not moving fast enough in decisions to hand over modern weapons to Ukraine.
Congressman Jared Golden noted that a bipartisan group of lawmakers called on the administration several times last year to hand over long-range missiles to Ukraine in addition to the F-16.
Why is it deemed inappropriate?
The committee's top Democrat, Congressman Adam Smith (Washington), nevertheless echoed the administration's view, saying that despite “everyone getting obsessed” with the F-16 in recent weeks, transferring advanced aircraft to Ukraine would come at a significant cost.
Maybe we could get some F-16s to Ukraine within a year, maybe 8 months if we really pushed it through. But Ukraine needs not just to train pilots, it needs to teach mechanics, it should have airfields that can accept F-16s and spare parts for repairs. Smith said, explaining why this is a stupid use of resources now.
At the same time, other representatives of the Congress stressed that “Ukrainians correctly use what they have been given.”
Ukraine needs modern aviation
- Earlier, the American media wrote that Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCall. They discussed the supply of F-16 fighters.
- Poland is ready to train Ukrainian pilots on the F16. However, this requires the consent of the allies.
- British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has decided to speed up the decision of the allies in Europe. He urged them to transfer Soviet-style fighter jets to Ukraine
