Ukraine is Getting F-16s, But Will Those Jets be Very Old or Not? - Technology Org | By The Digital Insider

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Ukraine spent a lot of time and resources asking its international partners to support its defence effort with a fleet of F-16 fighter jets. They are vastly superior to the Soviet jets that Ukraine currently relies on. And finally, their prayers have been answered – after the US approved such a transfer, the Netherlands and Denmark began preparations of delivering F-16s to Ukraine.


One of the later Dutch F-16 fighter jets.

One of the later Dutch F-16 fighter jets. Image credit: Gerard van der Schaaf via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)


The question is if those jets aren’t ancient. The Netherlands has made the decision to replace its F-16 fleet with F-35s and that process is already underway. 26 F-35As are already protecting the skies of the Netherlands, with 18 more on order. They will replace the F-16 fighter jets that are being phased out and will find their way into Ukraine.


Meanwhile, Denmark is on a similar strategy, but it is still waiting for its batch of the F-35A. Only one new F-35A has reportedly reached the Royal Danish Air Force, but 20 more are on order and will replace a sizable fleet of F-16s.


Denmark will provide Ukraine with as many as 19 F-16 fighter jets, while the Netherlands will try to give up to 100% of its remaining fleet of 42 F-16 fighter jets. The fighter jets used for the training will not be transferred to Ukraine (at least not now), since the training of Ukrainian pilots and technical personnel will take place in Denmark and Romania.


Isn’t Denmark and the Netherlands providing Ukraine with their obsolete weapons? Not really.


Although these countries have used the F-16 for a very long time, these fighter jets have undergone regular improvements and upgrades, writes Defense Express.


The Netherlands was among the first foreign buyers of the F-16 and one of the assembly bases for these fighter jets in Europe. The Royal Netherlands Air Force received the first batch the F-16s in 1979, the last – in 1989.


All Danish and Dutch F-16s have been updated under the Mid-Life Update (MLU) programme. According to it, radars in these fighter jets have been changed, increasing the target detection range to 110 kilometres. They can also use more modern weapons now.


The modernization of the F-16 included upgrades to avionics, electronic warfare capabilities, navigation and communications systems. And many more things related to flight, combat missions and modern weaponry.


All F-16s were also meticulously serviced in the process. And this is visible in the designation of these fighter jets. For example, in the photo above you can see a Dutch F-16 with the registration number J-002.


F-16 in Dannish Air Force.

F-16 in Dannish Air Force. Denmark is replacing these jets with more modern F-35s. Image credit: Rob Schleiffert via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)


This is one of the youngest F-16 in the Netherlands’ fleet, produced just before the 1990s. It entered service as the F-16A Block 15AE OCU, but is now designated as the F-16A Block 20 MLU.


The F-16 fighter jet is still in production today. The US is not abandoning them, other countries that cannot afford the F-35 will use them for a long time. Since they will be technically sound and reliable, Ukraine should definitely not look at the production date too seriously. They are more modern than whatever Ukraine uses anyway.


Written by Povilas M.


Sources: Focus.ua, Wikipedia


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