Weapons of War: Buying-and-Selling F-16s 'is not just a transfer of aircraft. It has real geopolitical and strategic importance.'

This report at the Pentagon was made following a virtual meeting of the multinational Ukraine Defense Contact Group. 

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• Norway recently sold 32 of its F-16s to Romania, and is waiting for Washington’s OK to sell a dozen more to Draken, a private company that contracts with the Pentagon to fly training missions.
• Denmark has also sold its F-16s abroad, most recently working on a deal with Colombia, and is considering doing the same with Argentina, a process that has caught the eye of Congress.

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with Air Force leaders this month, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said there is a danger of Argentina buying Chinese fighter planes if the U.S. doesn’t approve the potential Danish sale of F-16s.

“I think we need to be very vigilant on this,” Kelly warned. “We can counter their pitch here by facilitating the transfer of Danish F-16s to Argentina. That’s a possibility. This is not just a transfer of aircraft. It has real geopolitical and strategic importance.” 

F-16s won’t be a ‘magic weapon’ for Ukraine, Milley warns

Top leaders also announce that Denmark and the Netherlands are leading an international effort to train Ukrainian pilots.

“There are no magic weapons in war, F-16s are not and neither is anything else,” Gen. Mark Milley said. | Mindaugas Kulbis/AP Photo

By PAUL MCLEARY

05/25/2023 04:35 PM EDT

The military’s top general cautioned Thursday that F-16s won’t act as a “magic weapon” for Ukraine, but the U.S. is fully behind a group of NATO allies taking the lead on training and potentially transferring the jets to Kyiv. 

“The Russians have 1,000 fourth-generation fighters,” Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley told reporters at the Pentagon following a virtual meeting of the multinational Ukraine Defense Contact Group. “If you’re gonna contest Russia in the air, you’re gonna need a substantial amount of fourth and fifth generation fighters, so if you look at the cost curve and do the analysis, the smartest thing to have done is exactly what we did do, which is provide a significant amount of integrated air defenses to cover the battlespace and deny the Russians the airspace.”

Milley’s comments followed similar points made this week by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who said the jets are “not going to be a dramatic game-changer” for Ukraine, though “it’s something that makes sense for them. It’s going to help them” in the long run.

Fighter jets are vastly more expensive than artillery rounds and ground vehicles, which Western allies have focused on flooding into Ukraine to help push Russian forces back in the south. Spending the money on those near-term weapons, as opposed to expensive warplanes with their complex logistical needs, has been worthwhile, Milley said. . ."

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