The Netherlands has delivered the first of 24 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets to the Ukrainian Air Force, the European country’s Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans revealed in a post on the social network X.
“For the first time, I can officially announce that the first Dutch F-16s have been delivered to Ukraine. The rest of the 24 jets will follow in the coming months,” he said on Sunday.
The Dutch fighter jets are F-16A/B Block 20 variants that have undergone a mid-life upgrade (MLU) until the arrival of the 5th generation F-35A fighter jets, also from Lockheed Martin.
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The Royal Netherlands Air Force officially ended operations with the aircraft on September 27, but some of the fighters had been used to train Ukrainian pilots for months.
The Netherlands has received a total of 213 F-16s since 1979, replacing the F-104 and NF-5 fighters.
So far, four countries have confirmed donations of F-16s to Ukraine: Denmark, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands.
It is estimated that around 80 supersonic jets will be delivered in the coming months as part of a plan to restore the country’s air defense capabilities as it tries to counter a Russian military invasion launched in February 2022.
The first F-16s were delivered to Ukraine in late July and have already flown missions within days of being commissioned.
One of the planes, however, crashed and killed its pilot during a massive Russian drone and missile attack that hit the country on August 26.
