After almost a year of training and education of Ukrainian pilots and personnel, the Danish Defence have handed over the first F-16 combat aircraft to Ukraine. The combat aircraft are now under Ukrainian control and are helping to strengthen the Ukrainian defence against Russia's illegal invasion.
The Danish flag and the Air Force's cockade have been stripped off the first F-16 combat aircraft that Denmark has donated to Ukraine. Now they are on Ukrainian soil, where they help Ukraine to defend itself against the illegal war of aggression that Russia is waging against Ukraine.
"It is an important milestone that the first Danish F-16 aircraft have arrived in Ukraine. It is an important step to increase Ukraine's combat aircraft capability and create the long-term basis for establishing a modern Ukrainian Air Force. It will of course also give the Ukrainians an advantage in a war that continues unabated and requires the loss of human lives every day," says Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen and continues: "I would also like to give a big thank you to the Danish Defence. The donation is the preliminary culmination of an extraordinary, international effort to train Ukrainian pilots and personnel, prepare aircraft and provide Ukraine with the best opportunities to operate the F-16 aircraft with all the risks that this entails in a war-torn country.”
Training of Ukrainian fighter pilots and support personnel has been ongoing since August 2023, when the first Ukrainians arrived in Denmark. Since then, the Danish Defence and Air Force have trained Ukrainian personnel in flying, servicing and maintaining F-16 combat aircraft. "Usually it takes many years to phase in a weapon system of this type. It has been an almost insurmountable task that the employees of the Armed Forces have solved. It makes me genuinely proud to see how professionally this task has been solved," says Acting Chief of Defence, General Michael Hyldgaard.
The task of training and educating the Ukrainians took place at Fighter Wing Skrydstrup. "It has been a huge task for everyone who has participated in the education and training tasks of the Ukrainian personnel," says Colonel Kim Jensen, who is commander of Fighter Wing Skrydstrup in the Air Force and continues. "But even though it has drawn a lot of resources from the entire Fighter Wing Skrydstrup, it has also been a task that makes sense and spreads pride among us all. Here we have been able to pass on our experience and knowledge to our colleagues from Ukraine, who now must help defend their homeland.”
Denmark is not alone in training the Ukrainian personnel and donating combat aircraft to Ukraine.
Denmark is co-leading the international air force coalition together with the Netherlands and the USA. The coalition is established within the framework of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) and must over time assist Ukraine in modernising its air force, where establishing the Ukrainian F-16 capacity is the first step. The coalition embraces more than 15 nations.
"Denmark has really put in a lot of effort here and I am enormously proud of the huge task that the Air Force and everyone involved has done here. In terms of defence, Denmark is a small player on the plate, but when it comes to support for Ukraine, Denmark is at the forefront of Europe," says Major General Jan Dam, head of the Air Force.
"With this donation of F-16 combat aircraft to Ukraine, the Danish Armed Forces and Denmark show once again that we stand behind Ukraine's efforts and provide substantial support to them. We can all be really proud of that," says Acting Chief of Defence, General Michael Hyldgaard.
The work to strengthen the Ukrainian Air Force and defence does not stop with this donation.
"The work to build a Ukrainian F-16 combat aircraft capacity is long-term, and the government has expressed willingness to contribute long-term to Ukraine's fight for freedom," says the Acting Chief of Defence.
The Danish donation includes, among other things, 19 F-16 combat aircraft, training of Ukrainian pilots, technicians and support personnel, as well as a number of different equipment and spare parts that will enable Ukraine to operate the aircraft.
