Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder reported on her social media that as the F-35 Lightning IIs enter service, decommissioned F-16 fighters will be supplied to Ukraine.
Ce mardi, je me suis entretenue avec le ministre de la Défense Ukrainien @rustem_umerov et j’ai pu lui confirmer notre engagement au soutien à l’Ukraine et à la modernisation de ses capacités militaires.
Cela passera par plusieurs points :????— Ludivine Dedonder (@DedonderLudivin) October 11, 2023
Belgium is part of the coalition of 11 European countries and NATO members that promised to work together to provide these combat systems to the Ukrainian Air Force. And after the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway, Belgium is the fourth country to commit (and make it public) to Kiev for the transfer of its F-16 fighter jets, once the F-35s arrive to replace them from 2025 onwards.
As a more immediate step, Dedonder announced that before the year’s end Belgium will start delivering Ukrainian technical personnel for the maintenance of its future fleet of F-16 fighters. He also noted that Belgian companies, such as Sabena Engineering and Patria Bec, will participate in the maintenance of that fleet, probably by supplying spare parts and rotables.
See also: First F-35 for Belgium enters final assembly line
At the moment, there is no information available on the number of Belgian F-16 jets that will be transferred to Ukraine. What is likely, however, is that part of their maintenance and armament will be paid from the sale of Russian assets frozen by the Belgian government after the Moscow invasion of Ukraine, as Zelenskiy and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo agreed that the funds obtained from these assets will be used for security assistance and rapid reconstruction projects in Ukraine.
