![]() Slovakia, for example, placed orders for F-16s in 2018, but its first delivery will occur only in 2024, or five to six years from contract award to aircraft delivery. This required both training a new cohort of workers to produce the aircraft and the installation of machine tooling. Lockheed Martin moved the F-16 production line from Fort Worth, Texas, to Greenville, South Carolina. Time delays are another major consideration. Ukraine’s Air Force budget in 2020 was nearly $1.1 billion, which included support for about 70 older, former Soviet fighters. According to a recent Government Accountability Office report, operating one F-16 costs $4.6 million a year, or $184 million for a fleet of 40 aircraft. With funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative running out soon, new aircraft, as the Department of Defense has said, might break the bank.į-16s also cost a substantial amount to operate. Low-end estimates would amount to $8 billion. Ukraine says it intends to procure between 40 and 100 aircraft. F-16 flight packages include initial stockpiles of parts, munitions and training. Recent F-16 Foreign Military Sales cases to Bulgaria and Slovakia illustrate the cost of modern fighters - nearly $200 million per aircraft. would surely bear the cost rather than sharing it with allies. But this option would be expensive and take years, and the U.S. It would also allow Ukraine to continue using the weapons it has been given. This option would keep Ukraine in the F-16 ecosystem - streamlining both training and sustainment - and offer the latest software, radar and electronic protection technologies. One option might be to provide Ukraine with new F-16 Block 70s. Thus, while F-16s might offer improved capabilities compared to Ukraine’s Soviet-era fleet, they will need to be replaced in perhaps four to six years. Likely aircraft going to Ukraine could have up to 7,000 hours of flight time. They typically fly between 200 and 350 hours a year in peace time. The F-16 is designed to fly up to 8,000 hours. F-35s are slow to arrive, however, meaning that only a handful nations are prepared now to provide aircraft. ![]() Many NATO members fly the F-16 and are ordering new aircraft - mainly the F-35 - to replace their aging fleets.
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