Biden administration rejects Pentagon’s proposal to send civilian contractors to help Ukraine maintain F16s, other Western military equipment

09/06/2024 / By Kevin Hughes

The administration of President Joe Biden has rejected a proposal by the Department of Defense to send American defense contractors to help Ukraine maintain F-16 fighter jets and other Western military equipment.

This is according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, citing Washington, D.C. officials currently embroiled in the long-running discussion over sending American civilians to Ukraine to help in the effort against Russian forces. The first six of 80 F-16 jets promised to Ukraine came in to the country at the end of July.

Officials aware of the discussion in the Pentagon said the National Security Council had previously considered the proposal to send civilian defense contractors to Ukraine to maintain F-16 fighter jets and other military weaponry, but it was inevitably turned down as it was viewed as too risky. (Related: Ukrainian military shoots down its own F-16 fighter jet provided by U.S. earlier this year.)

“The intelligence community raised concerns over the prospect of Russia targeting American contractors in Ukraine,” an American official stated.

The Biden administration hasn’t ruled out the possibility of sending American contractors to Ukraine in the future, but they aren’t anticipated to go there soon.

“This is something we are considering but have made no decisions,” Sean Savett, principal spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement concerning the proposal.

U.S. wants European allies to shoulder responsibility of maintaining F-16s

For the time being, Washington expects its NATO allies in Europe to assume responsibility for servicing the U.S.-designed jets.

The Netherlands, one of the many Western nations that have pledged to provide Kyiv with F-16 jets, has already declared its willingness to finance a private contract between a civilian defense maintenance corporation and the Ukrainian Air Force.

“We support the Ukrainian government financially to make those contracts with private partners to see if they can hold the aircraft up and running in the future,” said Dutch Chief of Defense and Royal Netherlands Air Force Gen. Onno Eichelsheim.

The American-designed F-16 is one of the U.S. Air Force’s most famous jet fighters and demands very skilled maintenance and other support, as well as hours of service for every hour of flight time. Lots of support personnel usually work on each fighter jet.

All countries, along with the U.S., depend to some extent on private corporations and their personnel to help service the complicated jet fighter.

Maintenance of the aircraft could prove critical for Ukraine’s defense of its territory, with Kyiv hoping the F-16s can prevent Russia from dominating the skies. Without European or American civilian contractors servicing the planes, Ukraine has stated its intention to keep the Western-provided planes operational on its own.

Follow UkraineWitness.com for more news about Ukraine’s continuing war against Russia.

Watch the video below about Ukraine losing the first of only six F-16 warplanes it received from the West.

This video is from the The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.