US approves $310 million F-16 training package for Ukraine

Los Angeles: The US State Department has approved an F-16 fighter jet training and sustainment package worth $310 million for Ukraine, the Pentagon announced.

The package included aircraft modifications, flight training, maintenance support, spare parts, ground handling equipment, and specialised software systems, according to the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, BAE Systems and AAR Corporation are the deal’s principal contractors. However, This package contained no actual aircraft, as the jets would be provided by NATO allies rather than directly from the United States, said the DSCA.

The support package followed an earlier $266.4 million F-16 sustainment agreement approved in December 2024 under the administration of Joe Biden, which provided mission planning systems and key maintenance equipment, Xinhua news agency reported.

Several NATO members, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium, have collectively pledged 79 F-16s to Ukraine, with more deliveries expected throughout 2025.

According to FlightGlobal, a Britain-based data, news and industry insights provider to the aviation and aerospace industry, a shrink-wrapped F-16 fuselage was being loaded onto an Antonov An-124 heavy cargo airlifter at a desert airfield.

Flight tracking data revealed the An-124 landed at Tucson, Arizona, airbase on April 25 and departed the next day for Poland.

The Tucson-based Kgun 9 news channel reported Friday that the boneyard at Davis-Monthan air force base near the city was the likely source for old F-16s going to Ukraine in the deal. The report cited a statement from the Department of the Air Force as saying that the old planes stocked there would provide spare parts for F-16s Ukraine received from European nations.

“These F-16s were retired from active US use and are not flyable. Importantly, they lack critical components such as an engine or radar, and could not be reconstituted for operational use,” according to the statement.

IANS