WSJ: US officials fear sending Americans to Ukraine to service F-16s
Stockholm, August 31 (Hibya)—The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that US President Joe Biden's administration has abandoned the idea of sending US civilian personnel to Ukraine to service F-16 fighter jets due to security concerns.
“The Biden administration rejected a military proposal to send US contractors to Ukraine to maintain Western military equipment, including F-16 fighter jets, citing security concerns,” the report said.
The sources said the National Security Council considered sending civilian contractors to Ukraine to maintain F-16 fighter jets and other military equipment. Still, the intelligence community and others decided it was too risky at this time.
At the same time, U.S. officials hope European contractors will take on most, if not all, of the responsibility for maintaining the F-16s.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported, citing sources, that the first of the F-16 fighter jets provided by the West had crashed in Ukraine due to pilot error.
The publication “Strana.ua” reported that the country's Air Force had lost a fighter pilot in F-16 training. According to the obituary, pilot Oleksiy Mes died on Monday while performing a combat mission.
Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force a day after it emerged that a newly delivered F-16 jet crashed earlier this week, killing the pilot.
Albania News Agency
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