Ukrainian F-16s Are Operating From NATO Air Bases, Russian Milbloggers Claim

A leading Russian milblogger claimed Ukrainian Air Force F-16s are flying combat sorties from a NATO air base in Poland, an allegation that was repeated in both Russian and Ukrainian media but not independently confirmed.

The fairly obscure pro-Moscow milblogger Globalistika identified the Polish Air Force Mińsk Mazowiecki Air Base east of Warsaw as the home base for at least 16 Ukrainian Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft, of which seven currently are repainted with Ukrainian colors and are on combat status.

Reinforcements of six F-16AM fighter jets donated to Ukraine from the Netherlands Air Force, and three from Denmark, arrived at the base “in recent days” but those aircraft had not yet been repainted with Ukrainian livery, that source said.

Major pro-Russian military channels said the report was accurate and that, effectively, Ukraine’s Air Force was using a NATO air base as a sanctuary from possible Russian counterattacks. US-financed maintenance of the aircraft prior to and following combat missions was being performed at Mińsk Mazowiecki, the leading pro-Kremlin milblogger (1.2 million followers) Dva Majora reported.

A total of 18 F-16AM/BM fighters donated to Ukraine by the Dutch Air Force are based at Romania’s Fetești Air Base and are being used for training of Ukrainian Air Force pilots and ground crew, that source said.

A Kyiv Post request for comment to NATO headquarters for comment about the Russian claims had not been responded to by the time this article was published.

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According to official Ukrainian sources, the US-made F-16 fighter saw its combat debut in Ukraine in mid-August 2024 following an initial deployment of six aircraft. Another batch, likely of six aircraft, was received in mid-December. Locations of the base or bases used by the jets, and their precise numbers, are Ukrainian military secrets.

The main mission for the F-16 thus far in the war has been air defense against cruise missiles and kamikaze drones launched against Ukrainian homes and businesses, December Ukrainian Air Force statements said.

In a Monday interview with the local Kyiv24 news station Oleh Katkov, chief editor of Ukraine’s Defense Express military and security news platform, said that a likely future mission of Ukraine’s F-16 fleet would be strikes into Russian territory using high-tech, long-range glide bombs.

In late 2023 news reports said that once Ukraine’s F-16s began operations major maintenance would be performed in Poland’s main depot base for the aircraft, at Military Aviation Depot No.2 in the city of Bydgoszcz.

The Russia-originating reports saying that Ukraine’s F-16 fleet was based outside Ukraine went public one day after the US State Department approved a $266 million F-16 maintenance package for Ukraine, via the US Defense Cooperation Agency (USDCA).

The Biden Administration green light will finance the upgrade of Ukrainian F-16 jets with a 1990s-era software program, the Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS), along with encrypted data transfer devices called AN/PYQ-10 key loaders (SKL), spare parts, repairs, maintenance, training and logistics support. The package also includes plans for engine enhancements.

In use for two decades by the US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps, and most other foreign armed forces flying US military aircraft, JMPS provides the information, automated tools, and decision aids needed to plan aircraft, weapon, and sensor missions rapidly and accurately. The system loads mission data into aircraft, weapons, and avionics systems. The planning software is an integral part of flying operations for all mission types and is used before every sortie for peacetime and combat mission planning.

The main contractors for the upgrades are Sabena (Charleroi, Belgium), Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (Fort Worth, Texas, USA), and Pratt and Whitney (East Hartford, Connecticut, USA), the USDCA statement said. Lockheed Martin is the F-16 manufacturer and Pratt and Whitney produces engines for the Ukrainian version of the aircraft. Sabena specializes in performing on-site maintenance with its staff, as well as training maintainers.

The USDCA’s announcement that Ukraine’s F-16 fleet would get flight software and other upgrades worth hundreds of millions of dollars went public simultaneously with a US Treasury statement that Washington will advance Ukraine an extremely low-interest (1.5 percent) loan for $20 billion, to be paid for by interest from Russian state funds sequestered by US financial institutions.

The US move was part of a larger G7 nation initiative to mobilize $50 billion for Ukraine’s war effort, using Russian assets held in those countries as loan collateral, or as long-term interest income earners, US Department of the Treasury Janet Yellen said in a statement.

“These funds – paid for by the windfall proceeds earned from Russia’s immobilized assets – will provide Ukraine a critical infusion of support as it defends its country against an unprovoked war of aggression,” Yellen said. “(T)hrough creative policymaking and the unity of the G7, we are sending an unmistakable message of resolve by making Russia increasingly bear the costs of its illegal war, instead of taxpayers in our coalition.”