In the morning hours, the Ukrainian Air Force officially confirmed the combat loss of another of its F-16 fighter jets transferred by Western allies, along with its pilot. Although no further details were provided, the incident occurred during a massive Russian attack, when the aircraft crashed in an unpopulated area.
To date, the Ukrainian Air Force is advancing in the process of receiving the F-16 fighter jets pledged by European allies, with the support of the United States. Over the past few weeks, the governments of Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway have provided details on the progress made.
By way of brief review, the Danish government confirmed during the past month of March that it completed the transfer of 12 of the 19 pledged aircraft, while its Dutch counterpart indicated that it completed the delivery of 24 units recently retired by the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
For its part, more recently, the Norwegian government —through public documentation on exports and donations— revealed that during the year 2024 it completed the transfer of a total of 14 F-16 fighter jets.
Nevertheless, as has been reported on various occasions, the program for incorporating these U.S.-origin aircraft has faced multiple bottlenecks, especially regarding the training of new groups of pilots. In this context, the recent loss of one of them represents a new blow to the Ukrainian Air Force.
With this new confirmation, in which first-class pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustymenko, lost his life, this marks the fourth loss of an F-16 aircraft by the Ukrainian Air Force since the incorporation process began during the year 2024.
Since then, the F-16 fighter jets —as more knowledge and experience is acquired with this new platform— have been performing an increasing number of more and more risky missions. These are no longer limited only to air cover and the interception of missiles and drones, but also include attacks against Russian ground and air targets, as part of air support tasks.
*Cover photo used for illustration purposes
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