A US-made F-16 aircraft was shot down in the Zaporizhia region as it was preparing to launch a missile strike, Russian News Agency, Tass, reported.

“The F-16 aircraft was in position to launch a missile strike on the region, and it was shot down.” This was reported to TASS by Vladimir Rogov, Chairman of the Commission on Sovereignty, Patriotic Projects, and Support for Veterans of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.

If true, this would be the second loss of the F-16 Fighting Falcon for Ukraine.

The first Fighting Falcon went down amid a barrage of Russian missiles, killing pilot Oleksiy Mes in August this year.

The cause of the crash was not a direct result of an enemy missile strike, the Ukrainian military claims. It said the pilot destroyed three cruise missiles and one drone in Russia’s massive attack.

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F-16 Delivery Halted

Ukraine will reportedly have to wait longer than expected for the promised Belgian F-16 fighter jets, which were initially scheduled to arrive by the end of this year.

A new report from Belgian daily Le Soir reveals that the delivery timeline has been delayed, with the first units of the US-made fighter jets now unlikely to arrive until 2025. 

In May, Ukraine and Belgium signed a security agreement, which included the provision of 30 US-made F-16 fighter jets. At that time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had expressed hope that the first batch would arrive by the end of 2024. However, this timeline is no longer feasible. 

Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder visited Poland last week to review Belgian Army operations for 2025, during which it became clear that the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine will not take place this year. 

According to the Belgian Defense Ministry, the delay stems from a combination of factors, primarily the lack of adequately trained Ukrainian pilots and shortages of spare parts. 

The situation has been complicated further by the delayed arrival of the first batch of Belgian F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, which are crucial to maintaining Belgium’s air defense capabilities. 

The report stressed that the minister’s office emphasized that the delivery would be contingent upon the arrival of the F-35 jets in Belgium. 

The training of Ukrainian pilots has also been a major point of concern. President Zelensky admitted in August that Ukraine lacked the trained pilots necessary to operate the F-16s, adding that the country had a shortage of both aircraft and personnel.  

On August 26, one of the F-16 fighter jets provided to Ukraine by its Western allies crashed during an air defense mission, resulting in the pilot’s death. This tragic incident highlighted the risks associated with expedited pilot training.

Following this, US officials revealed that they were shifting the focus of their training program for Ukrainian F-16 pilots from experienced Air Force personnel to younger cadets. 

At the time, it was reported that this change could delay the timeline for Ukraine to field a fully operational fleet of Western-made aircraft by several months.

Currently, Ukrainian pilots are continuing their F-16 training across several countries, including the United States. Meanwhile, Ukraine received its second batch of F-16 fighter jets from Denmark earlier this month. 

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