Norway Becomes Third Nation To Pledge F-16s For Ukraine
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced on Thursday that Norway would be supplying F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
In a joint press conference following the meeting, Støre said that the donations were in addition to two Norwegian F-16s allocated for the training of Ukrainian pilots and support crew earlier this summer. He did not elaborate on how many F-16s would be donated and when, saying that additional details would be revealed “in due course”.
Støre’s statements confirmed a report by the Norwegian TV 2 television channel just prior to the meeting that Oslo intended to announce the donation of a number of F-16s during the visit on Ukraine’s independence day.
Norway is now the third nation to pledge delivery of F-16s, following the Netherlands and Denmark. In a statement released following the press conference, the Norwegian defense ministry said the donations of its F-16s would be conducted in close coordination with its allies.
“We will continue our dialogue with the US and other close allies on the development of a modern air defence system in Ukraine. Norway has provided substantial military support to Ukraine and we will continue to do so. The donation of these F-16 jets will significantly strengthen Ukraine’s military capabilities,” said Minister of Defence Bjørn Arild Gram.
The Royal Norwegian Air Force retired its 57 remaining F-16s in January 2022, having replaced them with F-35As. 35 of them are to be sold to Romania. Up to 12 other F-16s are to be sold to private adversary training firm Draken International, but TV 2 reports that the United States has yet to approve the resale as of winter 2022. Draken has been linked with the coalition working to train Ukrainian pilots and ground crews on the F-16s, with a United States official that spoke to Politico saying Draken would train Ukrainian F-16 crews at a Romanian airfield being upgraded into a regional F-16 training hub.
Earlier on Thursday, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa confirmed Portugal’s readiness to join efforts to train Ukrainian pilots and ground crews on the F-16 during a meeting with Zelensky. Portugal’s membership of the training coalition was announced following NATO’s Vilnius summit in July, with the coalition led by the Netherlands and Denmark.