Belgium may begin supplying F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine this year, according to an updated plan confirmed by the country's defense ministry.
Points of attention
- According to the updated plan, Belgium may transfer 53 F-16 fighters to Ukraine within four years.
- The delivery of aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force will begin in 2026 and may be completed in 2029.
Ukraine may finally receive F-16s from Belgium
As Defense Express writes, citing Le Vif , the transfer will be associated with the arrival of the American fifth-generation F-35 fighters to the Belgian Air Force, while the supply of aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force should extend for four years, along with the current one.
According to preliminary information, which is supposedly confirmed by the Belgian defense ministry, in 2026 Ukraine may receive seven F-16 fighters (four of which are used to train the Ukrainian military), in 2027 - another five, in 2028 - already 14, and in 2029 - the largest batch of 27 fighters.
If you count, it's a total of 53 F-16 fighters.
At the same time, experts recalled that Belgium has not transferred a single fighter in three years, but earlier Belgian sellers had announced the delivery date of the first aircraft in 2025. In turn, Belgium noted that they had not announced a clear deadline for the transfer of fighters, since this process is related to the strengthening of the country's air force.
It is worth noting that it is unlikely that all of the more than half a hundred F-16s that Belgium allegedly plans to give to Ukraine will be in combat condition, and a certain part of the fighters will play the role of spare parts donors.
