Belgium commits 30 F-16 jets to Ukraine by 2028

Belgium will furnish Ukraine with 30 F-16 combat aircraft by 2028, as relayed by Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, in a conversation with the Belgian broadcaster RTL on May 28.

Lahbib supplemented that the inaugural of these aircraft ought to arrive “by the terminus of the year.”

This proclamation corresponds with intelligence that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will journey to Belgium on May 28 to endorse a bilateral security accord.

Lahbib communicated that the pact concerning F-16 combat aircraft will be undersigned on May 28 in Brussels.

Belgium was amid the primary nations to enlist in the coalition instituted in the summer of 2023 to fortify Ukraine’s Air Force. The venture has been led by the U.S., Denmark, and the Netherlands.

Last October, Belgium declared that it would dispense Ukraine with several F-16 combat aircraft, sans specifying a quantity, and facilitate the tutelage of Ukrainian aviators in EU nations.

Aside from Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway have also vowed to deliver Ukraine with numerous U.S.-fabricated fourth-generation aircraft.

The Danish Defense Ministry disclosed in February that Ukraine will obtain the initial batch of F-16 combat aircraft already this summer.