The administration of US President Joe Biden has abandoned the idea of sending US civilian personnel to Ukraine to maintain F-16 fighter jets due to concerns about their safety and the EU is instead expected to take responsibility for maintaining the F-16 fighter jets, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing US officials.
“The Biden administration has rejected a military proposal to send U.S. contractors to Ukraine to maintain Western military equipment, including F-16 fighter jets, due to security concerns.” – writes the post.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that the first of the Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets crashed in Ukraine due to pilot error. The Ukrainian publication Strana.ua reported that the Ukrainian Air Force lost a fighter pilot who was training on the F-16. Pilot Alexey MonthAccording to his obituary, he died on Monday while on a combat mission. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine subsequently admitted the loss of the F-16 fighter jet transferred to Ukraine; a special commission is investigating the causes of the crash.
The National Security Council considered a proposal to send civilian contractors to Ukraine to maintain F-16 fighter jets and other military weapons, but the intelligence community and others felt it was too risky for now, the sources said. All hopes are reportedly pinned on European contractors, who will take on most, if not all, responsibility for F-16 maintenance.
