Biden said that the US will not supply Ukraine with F-16s

President Biden said on Monday that the United States will not provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.

The president said “no” to a reporter’s question about the potential for the U.S. to provide F-16s to help Kiev in its fight against Russia’s ongoing incursion, according to a video of the exchange.

After the U.S. provided significant new platforms in recent arms aid packages to Kiev, such as Abrams tanks, Bradley and Stryker vehicles, and the Patriot missile system, Ukrainian officials reiterated calls for Lockheed Martin [LMT]- built The F-16s will be included in a future security assistance deal.

Air Force Brig. General Patrick Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, at a press briefing in late November called the fighters among the types of capabilities that have significant preparation and maintenance considerations when it comes to assessing potential security assistance requirements (Defense DailyNovember 29).

“When it comes to certain capabilities, like Patriot missiles or M1 tanks or advanced fighter jets, you’re talking about a pretty significant maintenance and supply tail and training tail on those things. So none of these systems are plug and play. You can’t just appear on the battlefield and start using them. So those are the things that are taken into account when it comes to more advanced systems,” Ryder told reporters at the time.

Colin Cull, the undersecretary of defense for policy, also raised the issue of the fighter jets in September and said that while no final decisions had been made, there was the potential to deliver such platforms to Ukraine in the future. “to stay[s] on the table” (Defense Daily21 September 2022).

“In terms of future aircraft, such as fourth-generation aircraft, even if we were to deliver them now, they wouldn’t arrive for years,” Kahl said at the time. “I can say that fighter jets remain on the table, only the final decisions on this issue have not been made.”

US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in July that the US could be open to providing Ukraine with older platforms, including A-10 close air support aircraft.

“Old American systems are an opportunity. As Ukraine, which is very busy right now trying to figure out its future, we will be open to discussions with them about what their requirements are and how we can meet them,” Kendall said during a panel discussion at the Aspen Security Forum. .