Belgium will supply Ukraine with F-16s fitted with upgraded electronic warfare system, - Defence Minister Franken
Belgium is preparing to transfer additional F-16s to Ukraine, but must first obtain permission from France due to the French electronic warfare technology fitted to the aircraft.
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Franken said this in an interview with Ukrinform, according to Censor.NET.
What is known?
The aircraft due to be transferred to Ukraine have been upgraded using French electronic warfare (EW) technology; therefore, official authorisation from France is required for their transfer to Ukraine.
"We can do this quite quickly... Once it has been approved, we will be able to supply F-16s. I believe we will be able to finalise this in the near future. And then we will start organising the logistics," said Franken.
He also denied reports of problems with the maintenance of Ukrainian F-16s by the Belgian company Sabena Engineering.
Franken noted that the company maintains four F-16 fighter jets every month, and that this number could rise to six in the future.
Belgium also continues to supply ammunition for the F-16s, the minister added.
Following a recent consignment of 50,000 units, the Ministry of Defence of Belgium is considering a new request from the Ukrainian side.
What led up to it?
- President Zelenskyy had previously stated that Belgium would transfer a further three F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by the end of the year.
