Report says Greece could ship F-16s fighter jets to Ukraine

BELFAST — A Greek news outlet recently reported that Athens is likely to approve the transfer of 32 F-16C/D fighter jets to Ukraine and could also offload 24 Mirage 2000-5 Mk 2 platforms to Kyiv as well — a report that came days before Greek’s defense minister met with top Dutch officials to discuss support for Ukraine.

The F-16C/D transfer is considered “almost certain,” while the Mirage deal has been said to hold “potential” but is complicated because the French-made aircraft would require approval from Paris, or could instead be sold to India, reported the Greek edition of Newsbreak earlier this week.

If such a transfer moves ahead, Greece will become the largest international donor of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Newsbreak also reported that the fighter jets in question have previously “undergone two structural upgrades,” and 60 percent of their “structural” lives have already been used up, “on average.”

The Greek Ministry of Defence had not replied to Breaking Defense’s request for comment at the time of publication.

Nikos Dendias, Greece’s Minister of Defence, met today with Dutch Minister of Defence Kajsa Ollongren during a visit to the Hellenic First Army/EU-OHQ in Larissa where they discussed “the importance of increased military support for Ukraine,” according to a post on X (formerly Twitter) from Ollongren. She did not make any reference to the Greek F-16 plan specifically.

The Netherlands, Denmark and the US lead a F-16 training and delivery coalition program, established in October 2023, that has since drawn support from Norway and Belgium, both of whom have agreed to send aircraft.

A US Department of Defense spokesperson said he could not “provide an answer … at this time as this is not official,” when asked whether the US would be supportive of the reported Greek F-16 plan or if Washington had discussed it with Athens.

“Ukraine has the right to defend itself using F-16 jets to target Russian military positions, reflecting the alliance’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and defense against aggression,” the spokesperson added.

Ukraine has consistently called for international supply partners to send it fighter jets in a bid to push back Russian defenses and prosecute targets more easily, but a first in-country delivery from Denmark is not expected to happen until this summer — almost a year after the US first approved Denmark and the Netherlands to transfer F-16s from their respective fleets to Kyiv.

Overall, 45 of the multirole aircraft have been promised by European nations. The Netherlands has committed to supplying 24 jets, ahead of 19 from Denmark and 2 by Norway, though the total excludes Belgium which plans on making deliveries in 2025. Belgian officials have so far declined to disclose how many aircraft will be transferred.

Romania’s 86th “Lieutenant Aviator Gheorghe Mociorniță” Air Base in Borcea, Călărași County, hosts Europe’s F-16 training center for Ukrainian pilots, while others are trained in the US at the Morris Air National Guard base in Tucson, Arizona.

Earlier this month, Arizona National Guard spokesperson Capt. Erin Hannigan said that the US would train 12 Ukrainian pilots in fiscal 2024, according to Defense One.

“We should see the first trained pilots graduating no later than this fall, assuming everything moves along as expected,” said the US DoD spokesperson in a Tuesday statement. “Our main objectives for the remainder of the year are to continue providing high-quality training to Ukrainian pilots and maintainers, ensuring they are well-prepared to operate and maintain the F-16 aircraft effectively.”