Last year, Norway, along with countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands, that it would be donating F-16s — that had been retired to be replaced with the more modern F-35 — to Ukraine.
However, Oslo has yet to announce either the number of F-16s to be donated — expected to be just a handful — or a delivery schedule.
“Allied partners and states will work day and night with the goal of establishing a lasting and modern air force for Ukraine,” Norway’s Defence Minister Bjørn Arild Gram said in a statement.
READ ALSO: Denmark expects to send first F-16s to Ukraine in spring 2024
The Scandinavian country is already supplying training personnel, with around 10 instructors.
The Norwegian F-16s will be deployed, for an as of yet undetermined period, to the Danish Skrydstrup air base — where Ukrainian pilots are trained as
part a multinational operation.
In his New Year’s address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country’s “pilots are already mastering F-16 jets, and we will definitely see them in our skies,” as he vowed that Russian forces would feel Ukraine’s “wrath” in 2024.
Denmark is likely to be able to deliver the first of the F-16 fighter aircraft pledged for donation to Ukraine in the spring, the Danish government said last October.
Yay Denmark & Norway! Good Job!