Politico: Eight US senators demanded that the Pentagon hand over F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine Eight US senators, including representatives of both the Democratic and Republican parties, sent a letter to the country's Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, in which they called on the Pentagon to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
Lawmakers are confident that the delivery of aircraft to Kiev will allow "changing the rules of the game on the battlefield."
A call to the Pentagon
Eight U.S. senators from both parties insist on sending F-16 aircraft to Ukraine, Politico writes . In their opinion, modern fighters "can change the rules of the game on the battlefield."
"A group of senators from both parties is pressuring the Pentagon for more information about what it will take to send F-16 aircraft to Ukraine," the article says.
According to the publication, the politicians sent a corresponding letter to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, as senior officials of the presidential administration and Joe Biden himself have categorically refused to supply Kiev with American-made fighter jets.
The journalists got acquainted with the contents of the letter, which states that "the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is now at a critical stage." Eight senators are confident that the F-16 "can give Kiev an advantage."
Image source: Alina Jus/"Newspaper.Ru"
"After speaking with American, Ukrainian and foreign leaders who worked in support of Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference last month, we believe that the United States should carefully consider providing Ukraine with F-16 aircraft. This would be a significant potential that could change the rules of the game on the battlefield," the letter says.
One of the initiators of the letter is a former astronaut, Democrat, Senator from Arizona Mark Kelly. Together with his colleagues, he asked Austin to provide them with assessments by the end of this week "on a number of factors necessary for the successful transfer of the F-16 to Ukraine."
"The lawmakers asked how highly Ukrainian officials rate fighters when submitting requests for weapons, and how F-16s can be obtained if approved - either new production or from current stocks. They also asked the military to assess what impact the F-16s will have on the conflict and how quickly Ukrainian pilots will be able to train on aircraft," the authors of the material said.
The letter was signed by Democrats Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Jackie Rosen of Nevada, as well as Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Ted Budd of North Carolina.
According to Fox News, the senators' letter notes that two Ukrainian pilots recently traveled to Tucson, Arizona, to have their skills evaluated on an F-16 simulator at the Morris Air National Guard Base. Lawmakers called it a "critical step" in assessing the capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces to accept Western fighters. In the meantime, the Ukrainian military mainly fly Soviet-made aircraft, such as the MiG-29.
Confrontation with the President
Fox News journalists recalled that in February, a group of deputies of the House of Representatives from both parties sent Biden a similar letter, in which they called on him to provide Ukraine with planes.
"The F-16 or similar fourth-generation fighters will provide Ukraine with a highly mobile platform to defeat Russian air-to-air missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, to protect Ukrainian ground forces when they engage Russian troops, as well as to fight Russian fighters for contested air superiority," the lawmakers wrote in a statement. the letter, which was dated February 28th.
However, senior civilian officials, including Joe Biden himself and White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan, say that "fighter jets are not an immediate need on the battlefield" for Ukraine, writes Politico.
The country's deputy defense minister, Colin Kahl, also defended the administration's position, saying in February that "the most optimistic delivery time for old F-16s will be approximately 18 months, while the production of new aircraft may take from three to six years."
"This is a priority for Ukrainians, but it is not among their top three priorities. Their main priorities are air defense systems, artillery, which we talked about, as well as armored vehicles and mechanized systems," Kahl insisted.
Maria Shustrova
