The American company Lockheed Martin said that itʼs ready to supply its F-16s to countries that will transfer the planes to Ukraine.
This was stated by the chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin, Frank St. John, writes the Financial Times.
According to St. John, his company is not directly involved in negotiations regarding the possible delivery of military aircraft to Kyiv. However, there was a lot of talk about transferring F-16s to third parties for re-export to Ukraine.
Lockheed Martin plans to increase production of F-16 in Greenville, USA. New planes will be needed by those countries that decide to transfer them to Ukrainians.
The US government must approve the sale or transfer of US-made fighter jets to third countries. This means that European countries will need the support of US President Biden if they decide to send F-16s to Ukraine.
"Together with our international allies and partners, we constantly communicate with Ukrainians regarding their needs and requests. We have nothing to announce about the F-16 at this time,” said a Pentagon official.
- The F-16 is an American multipurpose light fighter that the United States manufactures for export. Almost since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has been asking the US to hand over the F-16, but to no avail.
- Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy said that his country is ready to immediately transfer 30 T-72 tanks to Ukraine if they are replaced by Western tanks. Slovakia is also ready to discuss the transfer of its MiG-29 fighters to Ukrainians.