First guesses: 45 Danish and Dutch F-16 Fighting Falcons for Ukraine
Hours after it became clear that Washington would not block the re-export of F-16s from allies to Ukraine, the first possible suppliers began to emerge. According to Babak Taghvaee, an author, historian, and journalist, Denmark and the Netherlands will supply 45 F-16 fighters.
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Taghvaee wrote on his profile that he was informed that the 45 fighters would be sent from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine as compensation for the lost Ukrainian MiG-29s since the beginning of the Russian invasion. According to Taghvaee, a third party is also involved in this deal and that is Belgium. Belgium, however, says the author, will take care to overhaul and upgrade the planes before they are sent to Ukraine.
Canceled sale
This information cannot be officially confirmed at this time. However, the Netherlands has signaled that it is one of the possible suppliers of the F-16. In recent hours, the Netherlands canceled an agreement to sell its F-16s to private company Draken International. This was reported by the Dutch defense analysis resource Oryxspioenkop. Draken International, which trains pilots, was to receive 40 Dutch F-16 fighter jets.
The first 12 fighters of the Netherlands have already been sold in 2022. However, the option for another 28 fighters was not realized. In 2021, the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands was informed that these 28 fighters should be decommissioned by May 2024. It is assumed that these F-16 fighters will be transferred for the needs of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Danish F-16s and Argentina
As for the Danish F-16s, if Copenhagen decides to donate its F-16s to Ukraine, Argentina may be the victim. BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that Buenos Aires is counting on increasing the capabilities of its Air Force by acquiring fighter jets.
Danish F-16s were floated as a potential deal between Buenos Aires and Copenhagen. The two countries even exchanged visits of technical working groups and experts to evaluate the possible purchase and sale. However, Washington must authorize such a sale, but the administration in the White House has remained silent on the subject for months.
The US risks, if it does not allow the acquisition of F-16s from Argentina, that China will take the deal under its nose and sell its JF-17s to the Latin country. A deal that neither the US nor the UK will like, as such a deal opens up the possibility of increasing Chinese influence not only in Argentina but also in the region.
Poland, France and Britain
Other countries have also expressed a desire to donate fighter jets to Ukraine. Poland is one of the European countries that until now given similar signals. France has also repeatedly mentioned that the donation of Dassault Rafale to Ukraine is not a taboo subject, but such an action will have to be considered since it should not affect the combat capability of French combat aviation.
A while ago it was rumored that France would donate 40 Mirage 2000-9 fighters. The information was shared some time ago by the French resource Intelligence Online. According to the resource, Saudi Arabia and Greece were the countries that had to part with their Mirages in favor of Ukraine. However, this information remains officially unconfirmed.
Britain has also promised the Eurofighter Typhoon to Ukraine. However, London is most likely talking about a sale rather than a donation. The reason for this is the speech of British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on February 18 of this year. Then he said that Ukraine will be able to receive modern fighter jets only after the completion of the Russian “special military operation” [this term is used by Russia instead of the words war or invasion].
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