F-16 for Ukraine: not many to start with, but well armed

The Wall Street Journal reports that Ukraine will initially receive only a few aircraft, but they will all be very well armed: the US will equip the F-16s with powerful missiles and modern guided bombs.

As the publication reports, Denmark and the Netherlands will transfer F-16s to Ukraine in the near future, and deliveries of fighters from Belgium and Norway are expected in the future. But the question of weapons for aircraft.

A senior US official told the WSJ on condition of anonymity that Despite the Pentagon's limited stockpiles, Washington has decided to transfer air-to-ground munitions, precision bomb guidance kits and advanced air-to-air missiles to Ukraine. The amount of weapons planned to be delivered will be sufficient to meet Ukraine’s immediate needs:

“We are confident that we will be able to supply all of this (weapons), at least in the critical quantities that they need.”

Ukraine will receive from the USAthe publication clarifies:

• AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface missiles,
• extended-range versions of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits that turn unguided bombs into “smart” weapons;
• small diameter bombs (GLSDB);
• AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missiles;
• AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missiles.

The source specified that European countries could allocate funds to buy additional weapons for Ukrainian F-16s from the US. According to him, The US will limit Ukraine's use of missiles for F-16s, similar to other transferred weapons. That is, Ukrainian defenders will be able to fire them at Russian territory only in response to attacks from the other side of the border.

Ukraine is seeking F-16 fighters directly from the United States, but the largest partner and operator of these aircraft has not yet made any relevant statements.

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