They will give the 40 F-16s they have to the country without receiving a single penny.

Belgium has stepped up its military aid to Ukraine, which continues its war with Russia, and decided to send the F-16 warplanes in its inventory to the front.

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken, who made important statements in Brussels before the NATO Defense Ministers Meeting, announced that his country will deliver 7 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine this year.

Belgium, which had previously planned to transfer only four non-operational and out-of-flight aircraft as spare parts, will, with this new decision, hand over to the Kiev administration for the first time its jets that are ready to fly and can directly participate in the war.

3 OF THEM WILL BE USED ON THE FRONT LINE

According to the details of the planned military aid package, 3 of the 7 F-16 warplanes to be delivered to Ukraine will appear in active operational duties on the front line. The remaining 4 aircraft will be disassembled as a source of spare parts in order to ensure the logistics continuity of the current F-16 fleet of the Ukrainian Air Force.

Defense Minister Francken emphasized that these single-engine multi-purpose jets, which stand out with their high maneuverability and advanced radar systems, are one of the most effective platforms for destroying Shahid-type kamikaze UAVs and cruise missiles in the air, which are used extensively by the Russian army.

WILL SEND MORE THAN 40 F-16s

Belgium’s fighter jet support to Ukraine is expected to reach a much larger size in the coming years. The Belgian Minister signaled that he will propose to the government to transfer all of the more than 40 F-16 variants in the Air Force inventory to Ukraine in the future.

However, the implementation of this historic handover plan is closely tied to the delivery schedule of the new generation F-35A fighter jets that Belgium ordered from the USA. Reminding that Belgium undertakes critical tasks within the scope of NATO’s nuclear deterrence mission, Francken stated that it is not possible for national security reasons to completely dispose of the current fleet before a sufficient number of F-35 jets enter the hangars to replace the aging F-16s.