Denmark to donate F-16s to Ukraine with delay - media

Denmark, being one of the largest contributors to Ukraine’s defense capabilities, was expected to deliver the first six F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by the new year 2024, but instead they will be delivered sometime in the second quarter.

This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to Berlingske, Ukrinform saw.

Berlingske quotes the Danish Ministry of Defense as saying that the delivery schedule was always subject to a number of conditions being met. Among them is the successful training of Ukrainian pilots, as well as the availability of sufficient logistics and infrastructure for aircraft maintenance in Ukraine.

According to Berlingske, six Ukrainian pilots are currently being trained on the latest fighter jets in Denmark. Belgium and Norway have been sending additional F-16 jets and personnel to Denmark in recent months to help the training effort, the outlet reported.

Denmark is replacing its fleet of F-16 fighter jets with new F-35 Joint Striker fighters, but is also facing delays in getting the planes on schedule from manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp.

In August, Denmark's prime minister pledged to send 19 F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv as part of an allied effort to provide Ukraine with modern weapons systems to repel the ongoing Russian invasion.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Norway will deploy two of its F-16 fighter jets to Denmark to contribute to the training of Ukrainian pilots.

Belgium, which participates in the "aircraft coalition" for Ukraine, will send two two-seater F-16 aircraft and 15 maintenance specialists to Denmark to train Ukrainian war pilots.

Also, the first group of six Ukrainian pilots underwent basic training on F-16s on UK soil and is now learning to fly them in Denmark.