US won't deploy contractors for maintenance of Ukrainian F-16s, says WSJ
According to a US official speaking to the WSJ, Washington considers the deployment of American contractors to Ukraine for servicing F-16s to be too risky. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The US administration under President Joe Biden has decided against implementing a Pentagon proposal to dispatch American contractors to Ukraine to service advanced Western military equipment, including F-16 fighter jets, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal which cites sources in Washington.
The consideration to send US civilians for maintenance work in Ukraine gained urgency following the arrival of the first shipment of six F-16 jets to Ukraine in late July, as per the WSJ report published on Friday.
After reviewing the military’s proposal, the White House National Security Council concluded that the risk involved was too significant, according to officials familiar with the deliberations.
"The intelligence community raised concerns over the prospect of Russia targeting American contractors in Ukraine,” one of the sources informed the outlet.
While the Biden administration has not completely dismissed the idea of eventually sending US contractors to Ukraine, such a move is unlikely in the near future, as per the article.
Currently, the US expects its European NATO allies to assume the responsibilities of maintaining the US-origin jets, the report further states.
The Netherlands has signaled its proactive involvement by supporting Ukraine in setting up a private contract between a civilian maintenance company and the Ukrainian Air Force for the upkeep of the jets. "We support the Ukrainian government financially to make those contracts with private partners to see if they can hold the aircraft up and running in the future,” General Onno Eichelsheim, the Dutch chief of defense, announced on Wednesday.
The WSJ highlighted that Ukraine has had challenges previously in managing maintenance of other US-provided military hardware, like the Abrams M1 tank, which necessitated sending abroad for repairs. The newspaper noted that an F-16 requires extensive servicing, "hours of service for every hour of flight time,” and typically involves a large support team.
This week, Ukraine reported its first loss of an F-16, which crashed on Monday resulting in the death of the pilot. Ukrainian press is investigating both technical faults and pilot error as probable causes, although MP Mariana Bezuglaya suggested that the jet was downed by "friendly fire" from Ukraine's own Patriot air defense system. Meanwhile, Russian sources claim the jet was destroyed by an Iskander missile strike at a western Ukrainian airfield.
In response to the deployment of F-16s in the ongoing conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in March that these aircraft would be seen as "a legitimate target" by Russian forces, even suggesting potential strikes on them within NATO territory if they are operated from those locations.
Sophie Wagner for TROIB News
The consideration to send US civilians for maintenance work in Ukraine gained urgency following the arrival of the first shipment of six F-16 jets to Ukraine in late July, as per the WSJ report published on Friday.
After reviewing the military’s proposal, the White House National Security Council concluded that the risk involved was too significant, according to officials familiar with the deliberations.
"The intelligence community raised concerns over the prospect of Russia targeting American contractors in Ukraine,” one of the sources informed the outlet.
While the Biden administration has not completely dismissed the idea of eventually sending US contractors to Ukraine, such a move is unlikely in the near future, as per the article.
Currently, the US expects its European NATO allies to assume the responsibilities of maintaining the US-origin jets, the report further states.
The Netherlands has signaled its proactive involvement by supporting Ukraine in setting up a private contract between a civilian maintenance company and the Ukrainian Air Force for the upkeep of the jets. "We support the Ukrainian government financially to make those contracts with private partners to see if they can hold the aircraft up and running in the future,” General Onno Eichelsheim, the Dutch chief of defense, announced on Wednesday.
The WSJ highlighted that Ukraine has had challenges previously in managing maintenance of other US-provided military hardware, like the Abrams M1 tank, which necessitated sending abroad for repairs. The newspaper noted that an F-16 requires extensive servicing, "hours of service for every hour of flight time,” and typically involves a large support team.
This week, Ukraine reported its first loss of an F-16, which crashed on Monday resulting in the death of the pilot. Ukrainian press is investigating both technical faults and pilot error as probable causes, although MP Mariana Bezuglaya suggested that the jet was downed by "friendly fire" from Ukraine's own Patriot air defense system. Meanwhile, Russian sources claim the jet was destroyed by an Iskander missile strike at a western Ukrainian airfield.
In response to the deployment of F-16s in the ongoing conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in March that these aircraft would be seen as "a legitimate target" by Russian forces, even suggesting potential strikes on them within NATO territory if they are operated from those locations.
Sophie Wagner for TROIB News
