The US is being timid by not giving Ukraine F-16s

The announcement that Britain and the Netherlands are forming an international coalition” to get Ukraine F-16 fighter jets is a significant step in the prolonged quest by Volodymyr Zelensky’s government to acquire the aircraft.

- KIM SENGUPTA

Rishi Sunak and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, want to ensure, says Downing Street, that allies will “provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring” the warplanes and stress that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato”.

The British government stated in February that it would begin training Ukrainian pilots to standard Nato techniques, and Downing Street stated this week, during President Zelensky’s visit, that the plan was to “build a new Ukrainian air force with Nato-standard F-16 jets”.

The RAF does not have F-16s, using the Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning as the main strike aircraft instead. The F-16s, also made by Lockheed Martin in the US, are, however, widely used by other Nato member states, and around 3,000 are in service with 25 countries around the world.