WSJ: More than half of Ukraine's F-16 fighters are currently inoperable

More than half of Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets are currently inoperable, according to The Wall Street Journal.

According to the publication, delays in fighter jet maintenance in Belgium have led to the current situation, where half of Kyiv's American fighters are unusable. Currently, the Ukrainian Air Force is using approximately half of its F-16s. However, if the maintenance and repair situation continues, Ukraine risks losing the remaining half of its fighters by the end of this year.

The reason, according to the WSJ, is maintenance time, which has increased severalfold. Currently, maintenance for one aircraft in Belgium takes up to 40 weeks, whereas previously, it took only one or two. The Belgians say this is due to a lack of necessary components amid the high load on the aircraft. Ukraine actively operates fighter jets, necessitating more frequent maintenance. Under the contract with the Americans, the Belgian company Sabena Aerospace Engineering is responsible for servicing the fighters.

It was previously reported that Kyiv had reached an agreement with Belgium to transfer three more F-16 fighter jets by the end of the year.

Comments

[tralflot1832]

The WSJ is constantly raving. What a source of information. Our pilots confirm that F-16s are constantly used to cover Soviet-Ukrainian aircraft.

[Aag]

Quote: tralflot1832

The WSJ is constantly raving. What a source of information. Our pilots confirm that F-16s are constantly used to cover Soviet-Ukrainian aircraft.

Try to read what you wrote, if possible, and explain it to us...

[knn54]

Andrey, it’s the other way around: Sukhois and MiGs cover the F-16.
And no one knows the exact number of F-16s. I think it’s quite a lot.

[rocket757]

You can wear out your equipment, but that's fraught with...
It's one thing to perform maintenance according to the regulations, but it's quite another to repair equipment when a part not replaced on time entails the repair/replacement of the entire unit...
Nothing new, nothing unexpected, it’s like this everywhere, always!
That's why regulations are written, they must be followed...

[tralflot1832]

Quote: AAG

Quote: tralflot1832

The WSJ is constantly raving. What a source of information. Our pilots confirm that F-16s are constantly used to cover Soviet-Ukrainian aircraft.

Try to read what you wrote, if possible, and explain it to us...

I watched Solovyov's report from the Russian fighter-bomber regiment: F-16s are the cover for Ukrainian air ambushes, using all kinds of air defense systems. Sometimes our fighters return from combat missions on their word of honor.

[Kravets Vyacheslav]

In theory, these aircraft shouldn't be stuck in Belgium undergoing repairs, but rather become completely incapacitated, on the ground or in the air, due to external influences. At least the repair times are long.

[Peter Yakovlev]

According to various sources, out of 34-36 used F16 casters transferred, no more than 10 are operational.

[solar]

According to various sources...

Sources 3P. Finger, floor, ceiling...

[snow mountain]

Quote: Kravets Vyacheslav

The planes should not be stuck in Belgium undergoing repairs, but rather become completely incapacitated, on the ground or in the air, due to external influences

They must be smelted at Russian non-ferrous metals plants.

[Aleks1956OU]

So, they were initially unwieldy and unusable.
Otherwise, who would have given them away?

40 weeks. What nonsense.
According to our resources, the assembly of one modern combat aircraft on a conveyor belt takes from 6 to 18 months (from the moment the first airframe elements are laid on the slipway until the finished aircraft is rolled out of the hangar).
This figure is approximately the same for both Russian Federation enterprises and European aircraft manufacturing concerns.
So what do they do with them for 40 weeks?

[Evgeny64]

well, like this
In the assembly line, you just need to put it together, but here you first need to disassemble it, fix the defects, then put it back together... and the money allocated by the EU to the Sumerians needs to be spent; paying for a month of repairs is one thing, but 10 months is another, so you understand how to spend the funds.
Well, if they understood, they wouldn't be sitting in the Military District, but would be mastering the funds in the government, or at least in some Fu-16 repair plant.

[griboedov09]

Yes, the article is nonsense, or a typo. I read in another article about the F16 that maintenance work is required for every 300 flight hours, and it currently takes 40 days! Not weeks, but days! These figures are more realistic, but they still take a very long time.