The US is taking retired, non-operational F-16s and sending them to Ukraine so they can be used for spare parts, an Air Force spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.
Ukraine’s air force has received operational American-made F-16 fighter jets from European countries over the past year. The US authorized the transfer, but it has not sent any operational aircraft itself.
The Air Force spokesperson told Business Insider that the department “has supported the sustainment of European donated F-16s to Ukraine by providing disused and completely non-operational F-16s to Ukraine for parts.”
“These F-16s were retired from active US use and are not flyable,” the spokesperson explained. “Importantly, they lack critical components, such as an engine or radar, and could not be reconstituted for operational use.”
Images began to circulate on social media last week showing shrink-wrapped F-16 airframes being loaded into a Ukrainian transport aircraft in Arizona. Open-source intelligence accounts tracked the flight from Tucson to Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in Poland, a key hub for Western military equipment on its way to Kyiv.
Valentyn Ogirenko/REUTERS
The War Zone first reported the F-16 transfer, which appears to be the first evidence that the US was sending the airframes. The Trump administration has not commented publicly on the F-16 delivery, but it notably came as Washington and Kyiv were poised to sign a long-awaited minerals deal, which they did on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about sending military aid to Ukraine, and his administration even cut it off for a brief period in March. The transfer of F-16s for spare parts, however, could be a sign that Washington is still willing to send much-needed equipment to Kyiv.
Last month, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, the top US commander in Europe, talked about the status of the F-16s in Ukraine.
“The planes are active, and they fly every day,” Cavoli, who heads US European Command, said, adding that there are more F-16s coming with more pilots in the training pipeline.
“They’ve defeated a large number of cruise missile threats, and they delivered an awful lot of offensive attacks as well, specifically, bombing attacks in the east. None of the F-16s have been from the US, though; they’ve mainly been from northern European countries,” the general said.
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
The Biden administration authorized the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine in 2023, and Denmark and the Netherlands began sending their jets last summer. Belgium and Norway also pledged to donate the aircraft. The four NATO countries planned to send dozens of fighters.
Though the US has not sent operational aircraft, it played a critical role in training Ukrainian F-16 pilots, as did Romania.
In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the country had received a new shipment of F-16s. It’s unclear exactly how many fighter jets Kyiv is flying now.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a decades-old but capable fourth-generation aircraft. The transfers were meant to give Ukraine’s aging fleet of Soviet-era fighter jets a much-needed boost for both defensive and offensive missions. They can be armed with powerful air-to-air missiles and air-to-ground munitions.
Ukraine has lost at least two F-16s on combat missions since they started flying last year. Kyiv has not disclosed any other potential losses.
