A year to a year and a half: Belgium announces timeline for sending F-16s to Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
Belgium will continue F-16 deliveries to Ukraine on schedule, after the first three F-35s are put into operation. This will take from a year to a year and a half, after which Belgium will be able to provide F-16s to Ukraine.
Belgium is set to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after its own F-35s are commissioned, which could take a year to a year and a half, Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken said on Tuesday at a forum of the European Policy Centre (EPC), UNN reports.
The program for supplying F-16s to Ukraine - yes, we will continue these supplies, but according to a schedule. This means that the first 3, not 4 F-35s, have already arrived, we need to process them... So now we have the first stage, but they must be put into operation. This will take, I think, a year to a year and a half. When we have operational capability, we will be able to supply our F-16s to Ukraine. So this is a very important stage,
"We will provide them as quickly as we can," the Belgian defense minister added.
Addition
It was previously reported that Ukraine could receive additional F-16s from Belgium in 2026.