The Defence Ministry will investigate whether Belgium can send F-16s fighter jets to Ukraine after all, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo confirmed. The army had previously declared that its fighter planes were too old and that Belgium needed them itself.
"We have asked the Defence Ministry to look into whether our aircraft are completely end-of-life," De Croo told VRT from New York, where he is currently attending the United Nations General Assembly.
Belgium's stock of F-16 fighter jets are reaching the end of their service lifespan with some almost four decades old. The State has ordered 34 more modern F-35A jets from Lockheed Martin, which after technical holdups should arrive in 2024.
The question now being considered is to what extent the older F-16s can still serve Ukraine. "We have to look at all options. If they are somehow still usable, then we should definitely explore that," De Croo stated. He added that the aircraft do not have to be used for combat missions: "It could be that Ukraine only uses the Belgian aircraft for training. In that case, the requirements are different."
Making a U-turn
In February this year, De Croo stated strongly that while Belgium was ready to provide support to Ukraine, Belgian F-16s fighter jets would not be part of the aid package.
"We need those Belgian F-16s ourselves; they are used to defend NATO in the Baltics where we do what is called 'air policing,' meaning defending the Baltic states," he said at the time. "We also need it to protect our own airspace. We have always been very clear about it: we need those Belgian F-16s ourselves, but there are many other ways we can support them."
In May, the cabinet of De Croo repeated that Belgium would not be supplying aircraft to Ukraine but stated that the Belgian army was willing to train Ukrainian fighter pilots to fly F-16s if those were provided by other countries.
Now, a study by the Francophone liberal MR party showed that it would be possible for Belgium to send two or four F-16s to Ukraine next year and provide more military support to the country. It urged the Federal Government to do so.
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A detailed assessment by VRT also showed that Belgium could indeed supply fighter jets to Ukraine if it wanted to; in the coming years, the Defence Ministry will replace its F-16s with new F-35 fighter jets and during the transition, there would be room to send some of the 45 old F-16s to Ukraine.
MR is also pushing the authorities to look into exactly what is possible, saying they want an objective study from the military on the possibility of sending fighter jets. "We have no official figures now, we have to rely on what military personnel or the minister say in the newspapers," said Deputy Prime Minister David Clarinval.
Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder is not eager to provide such support, however, saying that the matter "is very complex, more complex than how it is presented now." For Defence Chief Michel Hofman, providing those F-16s is "unthinkable."
