This will be the first 42 F-16 fighters that Ukraine will receive, their versions and their weapons

@DefAviation ES 8·20·2023 · 20:14 0

After many months, the great news that Ukraine was waiting for so long has finally been confirmed: the long-awaited F-16 fighters.

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Zelensky has confirmed the delivery of 42 fighters by the Netherlands

The governments of Denmark and the Netherlands have today published a joint statement, noting the following: "We agree to transfer F-16 aircraft to Ukraine and to the Ukrainian Air Force in close cooperation with the US and other partners, when the conditions for such a transfer are met.Conditions include, but are not limited to, successfully selected, tested and trained Ukrainian F-16 personnel, as well as authorizations, infrastructure and necessary logistics. In parallel with these efforts, our goal is to broaden our coalition and we invite other interested nations to participate."

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced today that the Prime Minister of The Netherlands, Mark Rutte, has confirmed the number of F-16s his country will donate: "42 jets. And this is just the beginning." This Friday, the United States approved the shipment of these fighters by Denmark and the Netherlands. The involvement of the Dutch government in this donation and in sending military aid to Ukraine is not accidental: in Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down by pro-Russian separatists in 2014, with weapons provided by Russia, 193 of the 283 passengers who died were from the Netherlands.

The Royal Netherlands Air Force operated 213 Fokker F-16s

The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) was one of the largest European operators of the F-16. In fact, The Netherlands built its own F-16s under license at the factory Fokker Dutch. In total, Dutch military aviation operated 213 Fokker F-16s: 177 F-16A single-seaters and 36 F-16B two-seaters for training missions.

These fighters were purchased in two batches. The first consisted of 102 fighters (80 F-16A and 22 F-16B). The first of the Fokker-built F-16s was delivered to the Royal Netherlands Air Force on May 3, 1979. While deliveries of the first aircraft were still in process, in March 1980 the Dutch Parliament approved the purchase of a second batch of F-16s, with 111 fighters in total (97 F-16As and 14 F-16Bs). The last F-16 made by Fokker rolled off the assembly line on February 27, 1992, according to f-16.net. Thus, the most recent Dutch F-16s already have more than 30 years of operational life. In 1993 a total of 138 Dutch Fokker F-16s were upgraded to the MLU version, which is probably the one that delivered to Ukraine.

Variants of the Dutch F-16

The F-16s operated by the Netherlands have belonged to different updates: Block 1 (those delivered between 1979 and 1980), Block 5 (1980-1981), Block 10 (1981-1982) , Block 15 (1982-1987) and Block 15OCU (1987-1989). Likewise, in 1983 16 Fokker F-16As were upgraded to the F-16A(R) version, a reconnaissance variant equipped with an Oldelft Orpheus camera and infrared scanner. Currently, due to cutbacks, the RNLAF only maintains 24 F-16s operational. The rest are mostly kept in storage, and some were exported under two contracts signed in 2005: 3 F-16Bs were sold to Jordan and 18 fighters (11 F-16A and 7 F-16B) to Chile.

The weaponry used by the Dutch F-16s

The RNLAF F-16s have operated various weapons. In addition to their internal 20mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannon, the Dutch fighters have been equipped with short-range air-to-air missiles AIM-9L, 9M, 9N and 9X, AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missiles, conventional bombs Mk-82 and Mk-84, cluster bombs CBU-87, guided missiles AGM -65 Maverick, and laser-guided bombs GBU-10, GBU-12 and GBU-24. At the moment it is unknown if the delivery of those 42 Dutch F-16s to Ukraine will include weapons for them.

The characteristics of the F-16 manufactured by Fokker

The technical specifications of the Fokker-built F-16s are like those of their US-made twins. They have a length of 14.6 meters, a height of 5 meters and a wingspan of 9.5 meters. Their maximum takeoff weight is 11.8 tons, and they can carry up to 3,100 liters of fuel , having a maximum range without in-flight refueling of 3,704 km. Its minimum takeoff distance is 1,000 meters and its landing distance is 800 meters. Its operational ceiling is 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) and its maximum speed is Mach 2 (2,414 km/h). Its maximum rate of climb is 8,000 feet per minute.

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Main photo: Koninklijke Luchtmacht. One of the F-16A of the Royal Netherlands Air Force.