Washington is worried the Individuals could possibly be focused by Russian forces, a US official has instructed the outlet
The administration of US President Joe Biden has rejected a Pentagon plan to ship American contractors to Ukraine to take care of Western {hardware}, together with F-16 fighter jets, the Wall Avenue journal has reported, citing officers in Washington.
The longstanding debate about deploying US civilians to Ukraine to service the {hardware} provided to Kiev by its overseas backers has intensified for the reason that supply of the primary batch of six F-16s to Ukraine in late July, the outlet stated in an article on Friday.
The White Home Nationwide Safety Council seemed into the proposal coming from the army, however deemed it to be too dangerous, officers acquainted with the dialogue instructed the WSJ.
“The intelligence neighborhood raised issues over the prospect of Russia focusing on American contractors in Ukraine,” one of many sources instructed the outlet.
The Biden administration has not dominated out sending US contractors to Ukraine fully, however it isn’t going to occur any time quickly, the report learn.
For now, Washington expects its NATO allies in Europe to take accountability for servicing the US-designed jets, it added.
The Netherlands, which along with Norway, Denmark and Belgium promised to provide Kiev with greater than 80 F-16s, has already introduced that it’s going to fund a non-public contract between a civilian upkeep firm and the Ukrainian Air Drive.
“We assist the Ukrainian authorities financially to make these contracts with non-public companions to see if they will maintain the plane up and working sooner or later,” Basic Onno Eichelsheim, the Dutch chief of protection, stated on Wednesday.
The WSJ famous that Ukraine had beforehand struggled to take care of different US-supplied weapons, such because the Abrams M1 tank, which needed to be shipped exterior the nation for repairs. The outlet identified that an F-16 requires “hours of service for each hour of flight time,” with dozens of assist personnel often engaged on every airplane.
Earlier this week, Kiev confirmed the lack of its first F-16, which reportedly crashed on Monday, killing its pilot. The Ukrainian media stated the investigators have been wanting into technical issues and pilot error because the potential causes for the accident. Nonetheless, MP Mariana Bezuglaya claimed that the jet was shot down on account of “pleasant hearth” from certainly one of Ukraine’s US-donated Patriot air protection techniques. Russian experiences stated that the F-16 may have been destroyed on the bottom by an Iskander missile throughout a strike on an airfield in western Ukraine.
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Ukraine confirms lack of first F-16
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that using F-16s within the battle will make them “a legit goal” for Russian forces, warning that the planes can be struck even at airfields inside NATO international locations in the event that they function from there.
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