But the talk isn’t just about long range missiles. It’s also about F-16s. Politico reported yesterday afternoon that a contingent of military officials is quietly pushing the Pentagon to approve sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to help the country defend itself from Russian missile and drone attacks, according to unnamed “people with knowledge of the discussions.”
“I don’t think we are opposed,” said a senior DOD official about the F-16s. The person stressed that there has been no final decision.
According to Politico, acquiring F-16s has not moved to the top of the Kiev regime’s priority list but that may be about to change. “If we get them, the advantages on the battlefield will be just immense. ... It’s not just F-16s: fourth generation aircraft, this is what we want,” Yuriy Sak, who advises Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, told Reuters.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment, but pointed to remarks by Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer. He said the U.S. would be discussing fighter jets “very carefully” with Kiev and its allies. “We have not ruled in or out any specific systems,” Finer said on MSNBC Jan. 26.
As with the ATACMS, we’re being assured that the supply of fighter jets also won’t be escalatory. “Let’s face it, a nuclear war isn’t going to happen over F-16s,” the DOD official said.
The Sunday Express of London reports that a “club” of seven countries—the U.K. and France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain—called the European Air Group met at its U.K. headquarters in High Wycombe Air Command last week to make contingency plans to send fighter aircraft to Ukraine. According to more unnamed sources, the seven have agreed to make contingency plans to deploy a total of around 50 fourth-generation Eurofighter Typhoons or F-16 fighter jets or to provide training and logistics packages.
As always, fears of escalation are dismissed. Air Commodore Dai Whittingham, formerly deputy commander for NATO’s Airborne Early Warning and Control Force, says that “Some may say deploying Typhoons is a major escalation but, while it’s not inevitable, it is really just a logical progression.” (Where does this progression lead?)
