US Air Force sending ‘boneyard’ F-16s to Ukraine for spare parts

The United States Air Force is pulling old and nonoperational F-16s out of its airplane graveyard — commonly referred to as “the boneyard” — to send to Ukraine for spare parts .

An Air Force spokesperson confirmed the donated F-16s are coming from the service’s 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

The planes in question will be cannibalized for parts that Ukraine can use to keep their European-donated F-16s flying, but the service stressed the American F-16s have been gutted of key parts and couldn’t be used operationally.

“The [Department of the Air Force] has supported the sustainment of European-donated F-16s to Ukraine by providing disused and completely nonoperational F-16s to Ukraine for parts,” the spokesperson said. “These F-16s were retired from active U.S. use and are not flyable. Importantly, they lack critical components such as an engine or radar, and could not be reconstituted for operational use.”

The U.S. State Department in May approved a possible foreign military sale to Ukraine, worth about $310.5 million, to sustain the besieged nation’s F-16s and train its pilots and maintainers on the aircraft.

The sale includes spare parts and various accessories, modifications and upgrades to the jets, ground handling equipment, publications and technical documents, software delivery and support, engineering, technical and logistics support and training for operations, maintenance and sustainment support.

The State Department said the exchanges of parts and training support will help the U.S. accomplish its foreign policy goals and national security objectives “by improving the security of a partner country that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe.”

The equipment and training package is aimed at improving Ukraine’s ability to improve its national defenses by ensuring sure its pilots remain fluent on the aircraft, the department said. The effort is also geared toward making Ukrainian aviators more interoperable with the U.S. through training tailored by the U.S. Air Force.

Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine has urged its Western allies to send it modern, fourth-generation fighters to modernize its air force and improve its ability to defend itself. When the war began in February 2022, Ukraine had at most 69 MiG-29 Fulcrum and Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker jets.

But the U.S. was initially hesitant to agree to Ukraine’s requests. Top defense officials and some lawmakers said it was unclear whether jets such as the F-16 would provide Ukraine enough of an advantage, and the Pentagon instead focused first on providing other assets such as critical munitions.

Former President Joe Biden in August 2023 cleared the way for F-16s to go to Ukraine, with the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium either having already donated the jets or pledging to do so.

Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command, told lawmakers in a hearing last month that F-16s have helped Ukraine shore up its defenses and that more jets are on the way.

“There are more F-16s prepared to be deployed in [Ukraine],” Cavoli told the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 3. “There are more pilots in the training pipeline. … The planes are active and they fly every day. They’ve defeated a large number of cruise missile threats and they’ve delivered an awful lot of offensive attacks as well” along Ukraine’s eastern front.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

美国空军正在从其飞机坟场（通常被称为“飞机坟场”）中拖出老旧且无法使用的 F-16 战斗机，并将其送往乌克兰拆解以获取零部件。

一位空军发言人证实，捐赠的 F-16 战机来自位于亚利桑那州戴维斯-蒙森空军基地的空军第 309 航空航天维护和再生大队。

这些飞机将被拆解，其零部件可供乌克兰用于维持其欧洲捐赠的 F-16 战机的飞行，但乌克兰军方强调，这些美国 F-16 战机的关键部件已被拆除，无法用于作战。

发言人表示：“美国空军部一直支持乌克兰使用欧洲捐赠的F-16战机，具体做法是向乌克兰提供已退役且完全无法使用的F-16战机，用于拆解零部件。这些F-16战机已从美国现役部队退役，无法飞行。更重要的是，它们缺少发动机或雷达等关键部件，无法重新组装用于作战。”

美国国务院在 5 月份批准了一项可能向乌克兰出售价值约 3.105 亿美元的军火的交易，以维持这个被围困国家的 F-16 战机，并培训其飞行员和维护人员驾驶该型飞机。

此次出售包括备件和各种配件、喷气式飞机的改装和升级、地面处理设备、出版物和技术文件、软件交付和支持、工程、技术和后勤支持以及运营、维护和保障支持的培训。

美国国务院表示，零部件交换和培训支持将有助于美国实现其外交政策目标和国家安全目标，“通过改善一个伙伴国家的安全，该伙伴国家是欧洲政治稳定和经济进步的力量”。

该部门表示，这套设备和培训方案旨在通过确保乌克兰飞行员熟练驾驶相关机型，提升乌克兰的国防能力。此外，此举还旨在通过美国空军量身定制的培训，增强乌克兰飞行员与美国飞行员的协同作战能力。

自俄罗斯入侵以来，乌克兰一直敦促其西方盟友向其提供现代化的第四代战斗机，以使其空军现代化并提高自卫能力。2022年2月战争爆发时，乌克兰最多只有69架米格-29“支点”和苏-27“侧卫”战斗机。

但美国最初对乌克兰的要求犹豫不决。高级国防官员和一些议员表示，尚不清楚F-16等战机能否为乌克兰提供足够的优势，因此五角大楼首先将重点放在提供其他物资上，例如关键弹药。

2023 年 8 月，前总统乔·拜登为 F-16 战机交付乌克兰扫清了障碍，荷兰、丹麦、挪威和比利时要么已经捐赠了这些战机，要么承诺会这样做。

美国欧洲司令部司令、陆军上将克里斯托弗·卡沃利上个月在一次听证会上告​​诉国会议员，F-16 战机帮助乌克兰加强了防御，而且还有更多战机正在运送途中。

卡沃利4月3日告诉参议院军事委员会：“有更多F-16战机准备部署到乌克兰。还有更多飞行员正在接受训练……这些战机处于活跃状态，每天都在飞行。它们击退了大量巡航导弹威胁，并在乌克兰东部战线发动了大量进攻性打击。”

斯蒂芬·洛西是《防务新闻》的空战记者。他此前曾在《空军时报》报道领导层和人事问题，并在Military.com网站报道五角大楼、特种作战和空战。他曾前往中东报道美国空军的行动。