The current capabilities of the air defense and air forces of the aggressor country, Russia, create sub-ideal conditions for supplying Ukraine with American F-16 fighter jets now.
This follows from a statement by the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Army/Lieutenant General Douglas Arthur Sims II at a briefing, the European Pravda online media outlet reports.
A representative of the Ministry of Defense of the United States noted that the conditions under which combat operations take place change over time, "but right now, the conditions for the use of the F-16 are probably not ideal."
"I mean, the Russians still have some air defense capability. They also have air capability. And the number of F-16s that will be provided may not be ideal for what's going on now," he clarified.
At the same time, Sims added that since the future will change, "it will definitely dictate how American fighter jets will be used" by Ukraine.
As earlier reported, Ukraine and eleven countries signed an agreement on the creation of a coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 Fighting Falcon multipurpose fighters.
In addition, Kuleba predicts the appearance of the first F-16 fighter jets in Ukraine by April 2024. The training of Ukrainian pilots should begin in August, possibly at the beginning of September, in parallel with preparing legal decisions necessary for the transfer of aircraft.
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