Popular Articles
Today Week Month Year


FLIRTING WITH DISASTER: Biden clears way for Ukraine to obtain F-16 fighter jets
By Ramon Tomey // May 23, 2023

President Joe Biden has announced that the U.S. will support an international effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, another clear escalation of military activity against Russia.

A senior Biden administration official confirmed the move to the Messenger, but clarified that the announcement does not mean Washington will send its own F-16s to Ukraine. The aircraft will come from several European countries that have it in their respective arsenals.

Meanwhile, another person familiar with the discussions told POLITICO that Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands all have surplus F-16s that could be donated to Ukraine. That person added that the F-16s have been freed up for this endeavor as all three nations are upgrading to the F-3 fighter jet.

Biden himself announced the move during the May 19 summit of the Group of Seven (G7) at the city of Hiroshima in Japan. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lauded the U.S. leader's decision in a tweet.

"I welcome the historic decision of the U.S. and [Biden] to support an international fighter jet coalition," the Ukrainian leader wrote. "This will greatly enhance our army in the sky."

Biden's decision followed similar announcements by London and Amsterdam to set up an international coalition to help Kyiv obtain the jets. Kajsa Ollengren, the Dutch defense minister, also indicated her nation's support after news of Biden's announcement was published.

"We welcome the upcoming approval by the U.S. of the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets," she tweeted. "Together with our close allies – Denmark, Belgium and the U.K. – we are working on the modalities. We stand ready to support Ukraine on this."

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

The training program sponsored by the U.S. and its allies will reportedly take place at a European site outside Ukraine and begin within weeks, POLITICO reported. Back in March, the U.S. brought two Ukrainian pilots to Arizona to assess their flying skills on fighter jets. Military personnel evaluated the pilots' flying and mission-planning capabilities on aircraft simulators.

Zelensky, Ukrainian officials clamoring for jets

Zelensky and other top Ukrainian officials have urged allied nations to provide Kyiv with more sophisticated Western aircraft to augment air defenses and offensive operations. The Ukrainian government said F-16 jets could perform a variety of roles – including assisting in shooting down Russian missiles and drones bound for the capital and protecting grain shipments passing through the Black Sea. (Related: After securing new tanks from US and Germany, Ukraine now demanding F-16 fighter jets to combat Russia.)

However, officials at the U.S. Department of Defense argued that F-16s were not yet necessary for the immediate fight. They have also noted that it could take up to a year or more to complete the required training to fly the aircraft.

Moreover, officials are also worried that the jets could be used to hit targets inside Russia – further escalating the conflict. Some officials have questioned the role of F-16s in the bigger offensive given the Russian ground-to-air threat.

Until the May 19 announcement, Biden faced mounting pressure to agree to the use of F-16s based in other countries – if not provide advanced American fighter jets to Ukraine. According to a senior White House official, Biden's decision will "further strengthen and improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force."

In February, ABC News anchor David Muir asked Biden if he thought Zelensky needed F-16s. "No, he doesn't need F-16s now," the president said at the time. The recent decision was a complete 180 from Biden's earlier stance.

This wasn't the first time the White House changed its decision over the issue of sending military aid to Kyiv. Prior to fighter jets, the Biden administration changed its mind and deployed M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine. The Messenger also noted that it was also the same case with America's decision to send Patriot missile interceptors to the country.

Head over to MilitaryTech.news for more stories about U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

Watch this footage of a Russian SU-35 fighter jet in action, which is the reason why the Ukrainians need F-16s.

This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Pentagon wants to send F-16 fighter planes to Ukraine as Russia rattles nuclear saber.

Biden sends 31 Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine after previously warning that doing so would lead to World War III.

RINO ALERT: Sen. Graham wants the US to send F-16s to Ukraine and declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

Sources include:

TheMessenger.com

POLITICO.com

Brighteon.com



Take Action:
Support NewsTarget by linking to this article from your website.
Permalink to this article:
Copy
Embed article link:
Copy
Reprinting this article:
Non-commercial use is permitted with credit to NewsTarget.com (including a clickable link).
Please contact us for more information.
Free Email Alerts
Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more.

NewsTarget.com © 2022 All Rights Reserved. All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. NewsTarget.com is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. NewsTarget.com assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published on this site. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.

This site uses cookies
News Target uses cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy.
Learn More
Close
Get 100% real, uncensored news delivered straight to your inbox
You can unsubscribe at any time. Your email privacy is completely protected.