U.S. Hints at F-16 Decision as Ukrainian Troops Begin Abrams Tank Training

Kyiv's allies have been in discussion on how to supply F-16 fighter jets while training for Ukrainian troops on U.S.-supplied Abrams tanks has started in earnest, U.S. Army General Mark Milley has said.

America's top military officer also warned it could be some time before Kyiv could use the Western-supplied military equipment against Russian forces.

Milley, who spoke late Thursday as he arrived in France to mark the 79th anniversary of D-Day, said that details about the delivery of the aircraft, which the U.S. has given the green light to, were being hammered out. Planning on training, flying tactics and locations were being worked out among the U.S. and allies such as the Netherlands and Britain, which have pledged to set up an "international coalition" to help provide Kyiv with the F-16s.

He said "everyone recognizes Ukraine needs a modernized air force," but that it would take "a considerable amount of time" for the jets to be used, The Associated Press reported.

President Joe Biden announced in May that Washington would facilitate training and allow Kyiv to receive the jets which are superior to the Soviet-era Mig-29s and Su-27s it mostly uses. The U.S. has not said whether it would supply the planes directly.

While these logistics are being worked out, Milley said that a 12-week training period for around 200 Ukrainian troops on Abrams tanks had started in Germany.

The training is aimed at getting the troops ready on the systems before 31 tanks the Biden administration has promised are scheduled to arrive this fall, the AP reported. They would come after Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive. The Abrams will be part of a 300-strong fleet of tanks pledged by Western allies, which include British Challengers and Leopard 2s from Spain and Germany.

The U.S. State Department told Newsweek this week that "as Russia's war against Ukraine has evolved, so too has U.S. military assistance." Amid calls from some military figures for the U.S, to give Ukraine more long-range weapons, the U.S. decision on F-16 training and approving the delivery of the Abrams systems came as part of a move by Washington and its allies calibrated so as not to provoke Moscow into direct retaliation.

"Given where the war is, limited numbers of F-16s flown by Ukrainian pilots do not fundamentally change the battlefield calculus, [but] only serve to improve the Ukrainians' ability to conduct specific operations and respond to Russian air threats," Lewis Griffith, professor of international studies at the University of Denver, told Newsweek.

He said that the U.S. viewed the F-16 as it did the Abrams tank in a step which "enhances Ukrainian operational capabilities," but was "a step below where they believe Russia's escalatory threshold to be."

Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian and Russian defense ministries for comment.