13 minutes agoUS tells “Ukraine rejects proposal to send Americans to maintain F-16 aircraft
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)The US has rejected a proposal to deploy American contractors to Ukraine to maintain Western military equipment, including F-16 fighter aircraft. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Biden administration made this decision due to security concerns after Ukraine lost the first combat aircraft F-16 it received from Western allies in [...]
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Biden administration made this decision due to security concerns after Ukraine lost its first F-16 fighter plane to Western allies earlier this month.
On August 28th, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed that the F-26 had collapsed during combat operations against Russian forces.
The National Security Council reviewed a proposal for sending the maintenance companies to Ukraine for F-16 fighter aircraft and other military weapons, but intelligence agencies considered it very dangerous at the moment, said officials familiar with the discussion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Instead, they hope that European countries will receive more and perhaps all responsibility for maintaining F-16. The administration has not ruled out the possibility of sending American military maintenance companies to Ukraine in the future.
The American-designed aircraft remains one of the US Air Force's most iconic fighter aircraft and requires highly specialized maintenance and other support, including service hours every hour of flight.
