Article Summary: Belgium’s promised delivery of 30 F-16 fighter planes to Ukraine has been delayed until at least late 2025 due to setbacks in F-35 production.
-With Belgium receiving only one F-35 so far instead of the expected fleet, it cannot yet part with its aging F-16s.
A 40th Flight Test Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon releases a Stand-in Attack Weapon for the first time Nov. 7 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The mission marked the first time the weapon was successfully released from an aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Blake Wiles)
Key Point #1 – Additionally, Ukraine faces a shortage of trained pilots, raising concerns about the effectiveness of adding more aircraft. Spare parts for Belgium’s aging F-16s are scarce, further complicating the transfer.
Key Point #2 – As a result, Ukraine is increasingly focusing on integrating U.S. weapons onto its existing MiG-29s and Su-27s, offering a more immediate and viable combat solution.
Belgian F-16 Fighters for Ukraine Delayed Due to F-35 Late Deliveries
On February 20, Belgium Air Force Chief of Staff General Frederik Vansina gave an interview to the Belgian daily Le Soir, informing that the 30 Belgique F-16s that were promised to Ukraine have now been delayed until at least the end of 2025.
“We now hope to start delivering the first aircraft [to Kyiv] by the end of this year,” Vansina said.
The reason given is that the inability of Brussels to part with the F-16s is a domino-like effect from the serial delays in the production schedule for the F-35A aircraft.
These aircraft were to have been delivered beginning in 2023, but thus far, the Belgique Air Force has only received one of the new, stealthy multirole fighters.
Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway had been part of the coalition pledged to provide used F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Belgium’s part of the effort was that in May 2024, they had identified 30 aircraft that could be made surplus.
These were to have been delivered to Kyiv between 2024 and 2028.
Mission Capabilities and Pilot Shortage
One of the initial reasons offered by Belgium was that there was supposedly a shortage of trained Ukrainian pilots, a story propagated in local media.
Vansina brought this issue to the forefront in the February 20 interview when he told the Belgian publication, “The presence of combat aircraft makes no sense if there’s a shortage of pilots.”
Former NATO-nation pilots who spoke with 19FortyFive agreed that “more aircraft are nice to have, but not if they are sitting around collecting dust.”
They also note that maintenance issues still exist even if the aircraft are not flown regularly. These problems develop and can add significant expense to keeping them in operation.
One of the pilots who briefed the issue of F-16s for Ukraine last year explained that “the [F-16] aircraft is extremely capable and it can perform all number of missions. But in order for a pilot to be proficient in its operation creates a serious training burden that many nations find difficult to bear.”
This training issue raises part of the argument that a less complicated aircraft like the Swedish JAS-39C/D version of the Gripen is more straightforward to train pilots for and better answers the basic mission requirements that Ukraine currently needs.
“The Gripen is a quartet, but the F-16 is a symphony,” explained one European defense analyst based in London – using the analogy to explain the difference in the two aircraft. “The symphony contains of course every kind of instrument you can imagine, but how often do you need to use some of them in order to perform very basic compositions of music.”
The F-16: Aging Platforms
A separate problem is the Belgian aircraft being close to their limitations on the maximum number of 8,000 flight hours for the F-16.
Some of these aircraft are forty years old or more and have been flown close to the limits of the airframe’s structural life. Any air force operating the older F-16s at these higher flight hour limits is “doing so at its own risk,” said Vansina.
He also stated that Belgium had tried to obtain spares for these aircraft from Lockheed Martin, but they [LM] refused “because they’re no longer produced.”
This realization by other F-16 users has, in turn, dried up other sources of spares.
Those nations with parts in inventory will not sell them to Belgium or donate them to Ukraine because, as he explained, “they realize they cannot be replenished” and still must maintain their own aircraft.
Given the other delays and problems with the F-35 and the limited options for Ukraine to train more pilots, it now seems that the F-16 will not be the game-changer in this war it was hoped to be at first.
“This is why we are now focusing more on how to integrate US weapons onto our own MiG-29s and Su-27s”, said one Ukrainian defense company offical that also spoke to 19FortyFive. “This for now is a less-expensive and more effective option and we have plenty of pilots rated for these types.”
F-16 Fighter: A Story in Photos
Lt. Col. Thomas Wolfe, the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group deputy commander, performs preflight checks on an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Feb. 1, 2016. The 421st EFS, based out of Bagram Airfield, is the only dedicated fighter squadron in the country and continuously supports Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and the NATO Resolute Support missions. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Rau)
An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 4th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, takes off at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Jan. 23, 2015. The F-16 is a multi-role fighter aircraft that provides air superiority enabling freedom of movement for troops on the ground as well as close air support for troops engaged in combat. It provides a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the United States and allied nations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Whitney Amstutz/released)
Maj. Garrett Schmitz, pilot for the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team, performs aerial maneuvers with an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., May 16, 2019. Air Combat Command pilots must complete rigorous training and receive certification from four levels of U.S. Air Force leadership before they can earn the title of Demonstration Team Commander. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Marcus M. Bullock)
Image: Lockheed Martin.
U.S. Air Force 52nd Fighter Wing F-16 Fighting Falcons line up in formation on the runway for a show of forces display at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, Oct. 1, 2019. The 52nd FW has a suppression of enemy air defenses mission and must be able to respond to emerging competitors. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua R. M. Dewberry)
About the Author Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is now an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
