The U.S. Air Force pulled the old and non-operating F-16 out of its aircraft cemetery, known as “Boneyard” for spare parts to be sent to Ukraine.
An air force spokesman confirmed that the donated F-16 will be from the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Team at Davis Montane Air Force Base, Arizona. These aircraft will be used for parts Ukraine can use to keep its continued F-16 flights in Europe, but the service highlights key parts of the U.S. F-16 and cannot be used in operation.
“this [Department of the Air Force] “The euro-held F-16s are maintained to Ukraine by providing abandoned, completely non-operating F-16s to Ukraine,” the spokesman said. “These F-16s are retired from active US use and are not flyable. Importantly, they lack critical components, such as engines or radars, and cannot be reorganized for operation.”
The State Department also approved a possible foreign military sale to Ukraine on Friday, worth about $3.115 billion, to maintain the surrounded nation's F-16 and train its pilots and maintainers.
The sale includes training on spare parts and accessories, modifications and upgrades to jets, ground handling equipment, publications and technical documentation, software delivery and support, engineering, technical and logistics support, and operation, maintenance and maintenance support.
The State Department said this would support the U.S. foreign policy goals and national security goals “by improving the security of partner countries with political stability and economic progress in Europe.”
The department said the equipment and training sales will improve Ukraine's defense capabilities by ensuring pilots are trained and through training with the Air Force to make them more interoperable with the United States.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has urged its Western allies to modernize its, fourth-generation fighter jets to send modern air forces and improve its ability to defend itself. When the war began in February 2022, Ukraine had up to 69 Mig-29 Fulcrum and Sukhoi Su-27 flanking jets.
But the United States initially hesitated to agree to Ukraine's demand. Top defense officials and some lawmakers say it is unclear whether jets like the F-16 will provide enough advantages for Ukraine, while the Pentagon focuses first on providing other assets, such as critical ammunition.
Former President Joe Biden cleaned F-16's road to Ukraine in August 2023, and the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium have donated jets or promised to do so.
Christopher Cavoli, head of the U.S. European Command, told lawmakers at a hearing last month that the F-16S has helped Ukraine’s defense capabilities on shores and that more jets are on the way.
“Prepare to deploy more F-16s [Ukraine],” Cavoli told the Senate Armed Forces Committee on April 3. “There are more pilots in the training pipeline. …The planes are very active and they fly every day. They defeated many cruise missile threats and launched many offensive attacks on the Eastern Front of Ukraine.
