The Dutch military has delivered the last two of 18 F-16 fighter jets to be used for training Ukrainian pilots to an air base in Romania, the defense ministry in the Hague announced on Wednesday. The final handover was completed at the 86th air base, where Western instructors train Kiev's air force in how to operate the US-made aircraft, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans has confirmed.
The Netherlands is part of the so-called F-16 coalition, which agreed to provide NATO-standard warplanes to Ukraine for use in its conflict against Russia. It had agreed to donate aircraft to the training programme that would have otherwise been retired from the national air force.
The Netherlands has also promised 24 F-16s for the Ukrainian military fleet, to be used in combat, deliveries of which reportedly began in October. The full consignment is expected to be delivered within months.
It is unclear how much of an impact F-16s which have already been delivered by the US, have had, since they were delivered to Ukraine in late July or early August. Kiev has confirmed losing one of the aircraft in a combat mission as a result of what Ukrainian officials described as a pilot error.
Specific Western weapon systems are not what Kiev needs to turn the tide, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed in an interview with PBS News on Monday.
“We have provided the tanks. We have provided the F-16s. We have provided the HIMARS. We have provided the Patriots,” he said. “Have we seen a marked difference since we have provided tanks to Ukraine in terms of the battlefield? Similarly, on F-16s, have we seen a marked difference?”
The answer to Kiev’s current battlefield woes is sending more troops to the front line, the US official stated.
Denmark, Belgium and Norway have also promised to provide F-16s for Ukraine. Moscow has claimed that no amount of Western weapons can alter the outcome of the conflict, claiming that the US and its allies want to fight Russia “to the last Ukrainian.”