How much of a difference will Ukraine’s new F-16s make?
Too few to beat Russia’s air force, but a strong symbolic start
BETTER LATE than never. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, has been pleading for F-16 fighter jets. The first ten (of an eventual 79) arrived in Ukraine on the last day of July, a year after the reluctant Biden administration finally gave its more eager European allies the green light to send them. By the end of 2024, Ukraine should be flying 20 of the American-made fighter jets. The rest, promised by the so-called F-16 coalition led by Denmark and the Netherlands, will arrive in batches during 2025.
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