Delivery of six Danish F-16s promised to Ukraine delayed by several months.

The training of the initial six Ukrainian pilots, following their completion of English language courses, will keep on in the Danish airspace. It is anticipated that their training may be finalized for combat operations before the arrival of spring. Nevertheless, there have been setbacks in the delivery schedule of the six aircraft initially intended for New Year deployment, as reported by Andreas Lindqvist in the Danish newspaper Berlingske. The delay may extend up to six months.

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F-16s will be donated by Denmark to Ukraine but their delivery is delayed by several months (Picture source: Danish Air Force)

Ukraine has long emphasized the necessity of acquiring fighter jets to bolster its military capabilities against Russia. In support of this, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium have pledged to provide F-16s to Ukraine. In August 2023, the Danish Prime Minister stated that pilot selection was underway, training preparations were in progress, and approximately six aircraft were expected to depart Denmark for Ukraine around New Year. Furthermore, it was hopeful that an additional eight planes would be dispatched to Ukraine in the following year, with another five in the subsequent year, as per the statement made last August.

However, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen later declared in October that the first jets would not be dispatched until April 2024. This delay underscores the challenges in coordinating and executing such complex international military initiatives.

The Norwegian Air Force has already presented instructors who will take part in the training, which will take place in Skyldstrup. The Belgian Air Force will follow next Autumn. This program is multinational and is led by Denmark. The span of this deployment to Denmark will be decided through dialog with the other partners of this program.

Supplying up-to-date F-16s to Ukraine proves (very) difficult but at first glance frustrating when seeing the incredible number of decommissioned U.S. aircraft of all types stored at Davis Monthan AFB (Picture source: U.S. Air Force)