Senators tell Pentagon to ‘take a hard look at providing F-16 aircraft to Ukraine’

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday urging him to investigate the possibility of sending F-16 fighters jets to Ukraine. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pressing the U.S. and other allies to provide military aircraft throughout the year-long war. President Biden has so far declined to authorize fighter jets for Ukraine, but eight U.S. Senators wrote in a letter on Tuesday that country is at a “critical juncture in the conflict” and may need airpower to prevail. 

“After speaking with U.S., Ukrainian, and foreign leaders working to support Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference last month, we believe the U.S. needs to take a hard look at providing F-16 aircraft to Ukraine,” senators wrote in the letter, which was spearheaded by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.

“This would be a significant capability that could prove to be a game changer on the battlefield.”

The letter noted that two Ukrainian pilots recently traveled to Tucson, Arizona, to take part in a skills assessment on an F-16 simulator at Morris Air National Guard Base. The senators called it a “critical step” in gauging Ukrainian forces’ capabilities to receive western fighter jets. Ukraine’s military mostly flies Soviet-made aircraft such as the MiG-29.

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A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House sent a similar letter to Biden last month urging him to provide Ukraine with aircraft. 

“F-16s or similar fourth generation fighter aircraft would provide Ukraine with a highly mobile platform from which to target Russian air-to-air missiles and drones, to protect Ukrainian ground forces as they engage Russian troops, as well as to engage Russian fighters for contested air superiority,” the lawmakers wrote on Feb. 28. 

FILE PHOTO: Two Polish Air Force Russian made MiG-29s fly above and below two Polish Air Force U.S. made F-16 fighter jets during an air show in Radom, Poland. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz, File)

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Tuesday that his government could send Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine “within the next four to six weeks,” according to the Associated Press. Other European allies have also hinted that they are open to providing Ukraine with military aircraft. 

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It would not be the first time that the U.S. reverse course on sending certain types of military equipment to Ukraine. The U.S. held out on sending Abrams M1 tanks for several months before the Pentagon announced in January that it would send 31 tanks to the battlefield.