Los Angeles, May 3 || The US State Department has approved an F-16 fighter jet training and sustainment package worth $310 million for Ukraine, the Pentagon announced.
The package included aircraft modifications, flight training, maintenance support, spare parts, ground handling equipment, and specialised software systems, according to the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, BAE Systems and AAR Corporation are the deal's principal contractors. However, This package contained no actual aircraft, as the jets would be provided by NATO allies rather than directly from the United States, said the DSCA.
The support package followed an earlier $266.4 million F-16 sustainment agreement approved in December 2024 under the administration of Joe Biden, which provided mission planning systems and key maintenance equipment, news agency reported.
Several NATO members, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium, have collectively pledged 79 F-16s to Ukraine, with more deliveries expected throughout 2025.
According to FlightGlobal, a Britain-based data, news and industry insights provider to the aviation and aerospace industry, a shrink-wrapped F-16 fuselage was being loaded onto an Antonov An-124 heavy cargo airlifter at a desert airfield.