Norway will transfer six F-16 fighters to Ukraine in 2024.
This was announced on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington by the Prime Minister of the country, Jonas Gar Støre, VG reports.
"We plan to deliver during 2024... Norway has been participating in the training of Ukrainian fighter pilots in Denmark since the fall, and Norway will support the training in the future," the prime minister said.
Norway announced plans to provide F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv as early as August 2023, but has never officially disclosed the number.
In April 2024, the specialized sites Zona Militar and Nettavisen wrote that Ukraine may receive 22 F-16s, but not all of these aircraft will necessarily be serviceable — some will go to spare parts. In addition to the fighters, Oslo will provide aircraft engines, support materials, simulators, spare parts and other equipment.
- In total, four countries agreed to transfer F-16 fighters to Ukraine: the Netherlands (42 aircraft, some of them training), Denmark (19 units), Belgium (30 F-16 fighters by 2028), and Norway, which did not reveal the exact number until the last. The first planes from Belgium and the Netherlands will arrive in Ukraine in 2024.
- Some of the F-16 fighter jets transferred to Ukraine by Western partners will be kept at foreign air bases so that they do not become a target for Russian troops.
- On July 9, 2024, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi , said that Ukraine is very much waiting for F-16 fighters, but the number of these aircraft announced by the allies is not enough. At least 128 F-16s are needed to match the Russians, who use 300 aircraft every day in the war.