Western F-16s promised safe skies over Kiev: Why could they all go MIA soon?

Western F-16s promised safe skies over Kiev: Why could they all go MIA soon?

The donated jets could be grounded due to maintenance delays, The Wall Street Journal has claimed
Ukraine’s NATO-donated F-16 fleet is out of commission more often than it engages Russian drones, The Wall Street Journal has claimed.
The American-produced fighter jets were touted as the latest gamechanger weapon in Kiev’s conflict with Russia, a tool that will help achieve goals outside of Ukraine, as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said when the first batch was set to arrive in the summer of 2024.
Ukrainian media once claimed Ukraine flying F-16s was “a really big deal.” ©  united24media.com However, a key EU member in the European-led scheme cannot keep up with necessary maintenance of the fleet, according to the newspaper.
What is the F-16 initiative?The plan was launched in 2023, as Ukraine’s fleet of Soviet-built military aircraft was dwindling. Pro-Kiev propaganda implied that the US-made multirole jets would help Ukrainian forces challenge Russia’s air dominance over the front line. But it was hardly a secret that they would be kept far away from Russian SAMs and fighter jets and only engage long-range drones and cruise missiles.
Donor nations announced they were prepared to spend years training Ukrainian pilots, refurbishing the aircraft they were willing to spare, and happily signing deals for modern replacements to bolster their own militaries – the F-16 initiative was effectively a NATO-backed pyramid scheme allowing everyone to spend big and upgrade their air forces. 
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen shows an F-16 to Vladimir Zelensky during his visit to Copenhagen in 2023. ©  Ukrainian Presidency / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Ukraine has since received about 40 jets, roughly half of what the donors pledged, and several of them during combat missions, after corners were cut for expediency during training courses. It is now facing winter with an acute shortage of air defense systems.
What’s the problem?Belgium’s Sabena Aerospace Engineering, awarded a $235.5 million contract for maintenance of Ukraine’s F-16 fleet, is not keeping up with the demand, according to the Wall Street Journal editorial board.
An inspection that normally takes two to six weeks lasts as long as 40 weeks in Belgium, retired US Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said. Another Western source said more than half of Ukrainian jets are now in maintenance limbo, with the rest set to become grounded by the end of the year.

Was the issue unexpected?Media reports saying that the Ukrainian F-16 fleet is being overworked surfaced as early as July, as Kiev’s shortage of ground-launched interceptor missiles became more acute. There were also indicators pointing to a bottleneck in Belgium.
In April, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation reported that not one of the six F-16s that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store pledged to Ukraine in 2023 had been delivered. Four of them were not airworthy to begin with, but the two others were previously used to train Ukrainian pilots in Denmark.
The six jets were stuck at a Sabena workshop in Belgium due to significant capacity problems, the report said.
Is Ukraine getting more jets?There were delays in deliveries as well.
Belgium promised in 2024 to transfer 30 aircraft set to be phased out by its air force, which was F-35 replacements. Then-Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder said Ukraine would start receiving the old jets as soon as the F-35s arrive on Belgian soil, but no transfers have been reported since.
Read more Most of the aircraft that Kiev did get reportedly came from the Netherlands and Denmark, the co-leaders of the F-16 initiative.
Why does Ukraine have air defense problems?A shortage of Western weapons partially caused Ukraine’s current situation.
When this summer Vladimir Zelensky announced a 40-day pressure of long-rage strikes on refineries, civilian ships, and commercial warehouses, hi