Ukraine’s F-16s could be all grounded soon. The Wall Street Journal reported late yesterday that the Biden Administration has not decided, for now at least, to send American contractors to Ukraine to service the aircraft. The National Security Council looked at the proposal for sending civilian contractors into Ukraine to maintain F-16 jet fighters and other military weaponry, but the intelligence community and others deemed it too risky for now, officials familiar with the discussion told the Journal. Instead, the hope is that European countries will take on more—and perhaps all—of the responsibility for maintaining the F-16s. “The intelligence community raised concerns over the prospect of Russia targeting American contractors in Ukraine,” according to a U.S. official.
The administration hasn’t ruled out sending American contractors to Ukraine in the future, but they aren’t expected to go there soon. “This is something we are considering but have made no decisions,” said Sean Savett, principal spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement, regarding a proposal to send American contractors into Ukraine. Wall Street Journal notes that the F-16 requires highly skilled maintenance and other support, including hours of service for every hour of flight time. Dozens of support personnel typically work on each fighter. Adding to that is the fact that, though upgraded throughout their lives, the F-16s being supplied to Ukraine date back to the 1980s and 1990s.