Despite a high-profile pledge made two years ago, Belgium has yet to deliver a single F-16 fighter jet to Ukraine, vrt.be reported.
The pledge dates back to 2024, when then-Prime Minister Alexander De Croo promised that Belgium would donate four F-16s to Ukraine “before the end of the year.” Those jets were intended to be the first of a total batch of 30. However, two years later, none have been transferred.
This inaction stands in stark contrast to other allied nations. The Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway have already supplied F-16s to Ukraine, with some of those aircraft already seeing operational use.
The primary obstacle, according to defence officials, is the delayed delivery of Belgium’s own replacement aircraft, the F-35. The government has stated it will only transfer the old F-16s after they have been replaced by the new jets. As the F-35 delivery schedule has slipped, so too has the transfer to Ukraine.
A source close to the dossier confirmed a delay of “a few months” in the F-35 delivery, but added that the timeline was also affected by Belgium’s decision “to spread out the payments.”
