US Agrees to Arm F-16s for Ukraine

(AP)

The United States has agreed to outfit dozens of F-16 fighter jets being sent to Ukraine with advanced American munitions, with allies acknowledging that the aircraft are “worthless without the weapons.”

Denmark and the Netherlands are preparing to deploy the first U.S.-made F-16s to Ukraine this summer, with more to follow from Belgium and Norway.

However, the source of the weapons for the planes had not been determined until now.

A senior U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal that despite the Pentagon’s limited inventory and production capabilities, it will arm the F-16s with air-to-ground munitions, precision-guidance bomb kits and advanced air-to-air missiles in quantities that will meet Ukraine’s needs.

“We are confident that we will be able to supply all of those [weapons], at least the critical volumes that they need,” the American official said.

As Ukraine seeks to turn the tide in a seemingly interminable war, the F-16 is one of the most significant pieces of equipment the West has offered in the course of the conflict.

“It’s an important addition,” Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide said. “It’s not in itself changing the war.”

According to the Journal’s report, the weapons for the F-16 that the United States is supplying include AGM-88 HARM air-to-ground missiles; extended-range versions of Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which convert unguided munitions to smart weapons; and so-called small diameter bombs that detonate within a limited blast radius.

The U.S. will also send advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, known as AMRAAM, and AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missiles for the jets.

“The aircraft itself is worthless without the weapons,” Maj. Gen. Rolf Folland, chief of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, told the Journal.

With limited inventories, many European countries were reportedly unwilling to send large quantities of air-launched missiles to Ukraine. To meet the need, the allies developed a solution that the Pentagon calls “jumpstart,” whereby the European countries can pool their financial resources to purchase air-launched weapons from the U.S. to send to Kyiv.

Arming the F-16s is one of a number of challenges the Ukrainians will face when they receive the aircraft. The fighter jets will eventually number around 80, but they won’t all be delivered at the same time. The Journal reported that the planes coming from Denmark, for example, will arrive in Ukraine incrementally over eight months.

“It will not be a silver bullet,” Folland said. “But if you have F-16s with long range weapons, you will push the Russian air force further away and that is the most important thing.”