FT: The West does not yet know who will supply the Armed Forces with ammunition for the F-16

Kyiv’s allies do not yet know who will provide Ukraine with ammunition for F-16 fighter jets. This was stated in an article for the Financial Times by retired British Air Marshal Edward Stringer, who led the United Kingdom’s Defense Academy until 2021.

He noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) could be given American AMRAAM medium-range missiles or European-made Meteor long-range missiles, but these models are too expensive. Thus, the price of one AMRAAM reaches about $1 million.

“While the levels of national military stocks are officially classified for obvious reasons, it is no secret that the majority of NATO forces are short of (ammunition)“, – Stringer said, urging allies to expedite the supply of ammunition “as a matter of urgency.”

Another cause for concern, as the military points out, is the possible low efficiency of the fighter jets promised to Ukraine. So, NATO usually completes deliveries of the F-16 “with a full set of auxiliary equipment: electronic warfare, enemy air defense suppression, airborne command and control systems,” but without them, the aircraft will show little efficiency.

On May 25, US Secretary of Defense Christopher Lloyd Austin said that Western countries expect to begin training Ukrainian pilots to use F-16 fighters in the coming weeks. Foreign Policy reported that the first phase of the training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will take place in the UK. About 20 pilots will be trained there. Basic aircraft control exercises will be held there.

On May 20, Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said that negotiations with Europe on the supply of F-16 fighters had led to the first possible deliveries of the aircraft. The first country to hand them over will be the Netherlands. Previously, Ukraine requested 100 F-16s.

After that, US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said that the aircraft transferred to Kyiv would be based directly in Ukraine, while not directly confirming the delivery of the F-16. However, on May 23, he nevertheless said that deliveries of American fighters would begin in the coming months, adding that they would not be able to turn the tide on the battlefield.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly emphasized that any shipments of weapons supplied by Western countries to Ukraine would be a legitimate target for the Russian Aerospace Forces. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the supply of weapons would not stop, but would prolong the conflict in Ukraine, and called the position of Western countries “harmful” and “counterproductive.”