​Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen were photographed talking and smiling Sunday in an F-16 jet at Skridstrup Air Base in Vojens, after the Netherlands and Denmark officially announced they would supply Ukraine with combat aircraft.

“Very productive, targeted and specific discussions with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Our pilots and engineers have already started training in Denmark. Denmark will deliver 19 F-16s to Ukraine. We work at the speed of preparation. During the discussions, we also discussed the possibility of expanding training missions – the algorithm is clear. Our F-16 coalition is proving its effectiveness,” wrote Volodymyr Zelenskyi on the Kh.

Earlier, Zelensky wrote in his Telegram channel that Ukraine will receive 42 aircraft from the Netherlands, although the country did not specify the number.

On Friday, the Netherlands and Denmark said that the United States allowed them to deliver American-made F-16s to Ukraine. Washington’s approval was seen as a major boost for Kyiv, even if the fighter jets are unlikely to have any immediate impact on the nearly 18-month-old war.

Washington says the F-16s, like America’s advanced Abrams tanks, will be crucial in the long term in Kyiv’s confrontation with Russia.

Ukraine has bet on older aircraft, such as the MiG-29 and Russian-made Sukhoi aircraft. F-16s have newer technology and targeting capabilities. They’re also more versatile, experts say.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi has consistently called for Western fighter jets to bolster his country’s defenses, but has so far faced US skepticism.

F-16, “four to five times” more effective than the Soviet ones

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Serhiy Golubtsov said that Ukraine desperately needs F-16 fighter jets, which, he said, are “four to five times” more effective than the Soviet-era aircraft that Ukraine currently uses.

• “The F-16 is a fighter that has evolved into a multi-role aircraft that can perform a full range of aerial missions. The MiG-29, unfortunately, is (an aircraft) from the last century,” the Ukrainian commander said on national television in the spring in the context of the fact that Poland and Slovakia began transferring MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine.

The F-16, the best-selling Western fighter of its generation

The F-16 is the best-selling Western fighter of its generation and still the most widely used fighter in the world, with more than 4,000 produced, of which more than 1,500 are still in service.

Created in the late 1970s, it is a multi-purpose aircraft. It is capable of performing a wide range of missions, from reconnaissance to hunting other aircraft through ground attack.

The advantage of the F-16 for Ukraine, in addition to its versatility, would be not so much its power (comparable to that which the Russians would oppose), but availability: it is reaching the end of its resource, and the European Air Force, in particular, dozens of these aircraft are withdrawn every year from operation

Regional hub in Romania for pilot training

In July, 11 partner countries of Ukraine signed a memorandum that defines the conditions for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Great Britain, Romania and Sweden participate in the coalition training of Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16 fighters.

• “F-16 will protect the sky over Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank. The Air Force of Ukraine is ready to know how to use them as soon as possible,” the Minister of Defense of Ukraine said at the time.

• On July 6, the presidential administration in Bucharest announced that at a meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) “the participation of Romania in a new transatlantic project, namely the creation of a pilot training facility in our country for the operation of F-16 aircraft, was also analyzed.”

• “Together with other allies and the company that develops this fighter, a regional hub will be established in Romania to train the pilots who will fly these aircraft.
• Romanian pilots who operate F-16 aircraft will be trained here, and later the facility will be opened to the participation of pilots from allied and NATO partner countries, including Ukraine,” the presidential administration said.
• “This regional training center will meet the training needs of allies and regional partners, positioning Romania as a regional leader in F-16 pilot training, thus contributing to increased cohesion, demonstrating unity and strengthening deterrence and Euro-Atlantic defense.” , the Presidency of Romania reports.