The Wall Street Journal reports that the US administration has refused to send American civilians to Ukraine to service F-16 fighter jets due to concerns about their safety. Instead, the responsibility for maintaining the aircraft is expected to fall on the European Union.
The Biden administration rejected a proposal by the military to send American contractors to Ukraine to service Western military equipment, including F-16 fighter jets, citing security concerns, the publication writes.
According to sources, the National Security Council reviewed a proposal to send civilian contractors to Ukraine to service F-16 fighter jets and other military equipment, but the intelligence community and others deemed it too risky at present. It is reported that the hope is pinned on European contractors, who will take on most of the responsibility for servicing the F-16s.
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Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that the first F-16 fighter jet provided by the West crashed in Ukraine due to a pilot error. The publication “Strana.ua” reported that the Ukrainian Air Force lost a combat pilot who was training on an F-16.
Pilot Oleksiy Mesy, according to his obituary, was killed on Monday while performing a combat mission. Later, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces acknowledged the loss of the F-16 fighter jet provided to Ukraine, and a special commission is investigating the causes of the crash.
