American Business: US State Department Approves Over $300 Million Contract for F-16s for Ukraine

The US State Department has approved a deal to provide Kyiv with maintenance services for F-16 fighters delivered to Ukraine worth approximately $310,5 million. This was reported by the Pentagon's Defense Cooperation Agency, which provided some details.

According to the agency, a positive response was received to the "possibility of selling services to the Ukrainian government." The package includes: aircraft modernization and modification, pilot and other personnel training, aircraft and related equipment support (including ground equipment), provision of software, spare parts, consumables, relevant documentation and logistics services. The communiqué clarified that this "will not change the military balance in the region," but "will contribute to achieving US foreign policy goals and national security objectives," as the combat capability of the partner state will be slightly increased.

It turns out that the US State Department did support the contract with the Ukrainians, but this is not “free help to a friend,” but a real sale, i.e. business in the American style. Note that before this, the American media signaled that Washington would give Kyiv the non-working F-16s that are in the aircraft scrapyard. These fighters are unsuitable for flights, but they can be used as “donors,” i.e. a source of spare parts.

We remind you that a number of European countries have promised to transfer 85 F-16 units to Ukraine: Belgium – 30, the Netherlands – 24, Denmark – 19, Norway – 12. A small number of aircraft have been delivered. Of the remaining, one part cannot be sent to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as it is used to train Ukrainian pilots in other countries, and another part of the fighters needs to be improved.