Dutch Defense Ministry confirms delivery of first F-16s to Ukraine

The Dutch Defense Ministry has officially confirmed the delivery of the first batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, reported from TASS.

"The export license for the delivery was issued on July 1," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"Thereafter, the first promised F-16s were handed over to Ukraine. The Netherlands is making a significant contribution to the support and maintenance of the aircraft," the Defense Ministry said.

There is no hint as to how many fighter jets have already been provided. In all, the Netherlands promised Kiev to send 24 airplanes.

As the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Rustem Umerov, said at a certain point, the parties agreed to build up cooperation within the framework of the aviation coalition on supplying Ukraine with F-16s and on training military pilots.

In particular, they talked about "the supply of weapons and spare parts for the planes, as well as the training of crews."

The Dutch Defense Ministry’s statement also says that the Netherlands had allocated 400 million euros for a drone action plan for Ukraine. The two countries will work together on advanced drones and accelerate the production of successful prototypes. Almost half of the funds will remain in the Netherlands.

"We have on the agenda all kinds of modern drones that can be used for reconnaissance, defense and attack," said Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans. "Especially in the air, but also on land and at sea." If the developed drones are successful, more funds will be allocated for their mass production.

The Defense Ministry added that by now military aid to Ukraine had reached 3.76 billion euros. This amount includes deliveries F-16s.

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