Photo: Keystone Intel / X
The United States of America has handed over several fully decommissioned F-16 aircraft to Ukraine, which are not fit for flight, to be used as spare parts donors. This was officially announced by a spokesman for the US Air Force in a commentary for the authoritative profile publication The War Zone.
“We have provided Ukraine with F-16s that have been decommissioned in the United States and are completely unsuitable for flight. Their purpose is to provide spare parts to maintain the combat capability of the aircraft transferred by the allies,” the US Air Force spokesman said.
According to him, these fighters lack key components, such as engines or radars, and cannot be restored for use in combat.
Last week, the partially disassembled hulls of at least three F-16s, wrapped in protective film, were loaded onto a Ukrainian An-124 cargo plane at Tucson, Arizona, a city near the Davis-Monthan base where decommissioned warplanes are stored, journalists have found. According to aviation trackers, the Ukrainian carrier has already returned to Poland.
Currently, the United States does not officially supply Ukraine with operational F-16s, but supports infrastructure and training. According to the plan, Kyiv is to receive a total of 85 serviceable F-16s from European allies. Some of them are used to train Ukrainian pilots in Romania.
