Ukraine’s F-16s doing a ‘good job,’ Netherlands military chief says

PARIS and WASHINGTON — F-16 fighter jets delivered to Ukraine by the Netherlands are operational and doing a “good job,” Dutch Chief of Defence Gen. Otto Eichelsheim said.

The Netherlands will provide Ukraine with 24 of the jets as well as weapons, with no limits on how the arms can be used beyond compliance with humanitarian law, Eichelsheim said at a press briefing in Washington on Wednesday. Should Ukraine see a military need to use its F-16s for deep strikes into Russia, “then we have no restrictions on that,” the general said.

Ukraine used Western-supplied F-16s to shoot down Russian missiles this week in two waves of attacks targeting residential areas and energy infrastructure, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Eichelsheim declined to say how many aircraft are already operating in Ukraine, citing the security of Ukrainian forces.

The Netherlands is stationing a further 18 F-16s for pilot training in Romania, and some of those aircraft could be given to Ukraine in the future, the general said. Additional airframes will become available for Ukraine as more countries in Europe shift to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, he added.

“Focus should be now on getting the pilots and technicians trained well,” Eichelsheim said. “We have the capability ready in Romania to train Ukrainian pilots. We will see now a shift from the older pilots that were trained on the MiGs that we have now converted to the F-16, towards young pilots that are coming out of the training pipeline.”

The biggest challenge will be to sustain the F-16 fleet with personnel and materiel, the Dutch general said. The Netherlands is providing Ukraine money and data to keep the jets flying, with parts delivery and aircraft overhaul to be handled mainly by civilian contractors employed by the Ukrainian government.

“That will be done inside Ukraine, and we will be providing the Ukrainians with the financial assets to do that,” Eichelsheim said. “Understand that are always difficulties in this, because you have then perhaps foreigners working on Ukrainian soil. So there will be always a risk involved there.”

F-16s and their airfields will be a primary target for Russia, and protecting them will require layered air defense, according to Eichelsheim. Ukraine has a good sensor system that provides enough early warning to allow the jets to react to threats, the general said.

Eichelsheim met with officials in Washington to discuss the Dutch initiative to supply Ukraine with additional Patriot systems, as Zelenskyy is expected to request more air-defense assets following Russia’s air attacks this week.

He described Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast as “technically very well executed,” using maneuverability and new techniques and technologies to quickly seize terrain. Kyiv’s military could choose to expand the push there, Eichelsheim said, in which case Ukraine’s allies should be prepared to ponder an military-aid request from Kyiv to sustain the presence in the Russian oblast.

The operation boosted Ukrainian morale, and has given the country a bargaining chip with Russia.

“From a military perspective, they can then provide dilemmas for the Russian Federation, and I think that’s what they should do,” Eichelsheim said. “You have to give them the maneuverability to win the fight, if it is so static on the other front,” he added, referring to fighting in Ukraine.

Russia has kept up its Donbas offensive for now, while Ukraine has depleted part of its reserves with the Kursk incursion, and time will tell whether the operation was a strategic success, according to the general.

“But strategically, you would like to see a reaction coming out of the Russian forces, and that’s a reaction we still did not see.”

The continued Russian focus on Donbas “shows something” about how Russian leader Vladimir Putin sees his territory and people, according to Eichelsheim. “If I was a Russian, I would be worried about it.”

With both sides dug in “quite deeply,” it will be very hard for Ukraine to regain territory, and for Ukraine to take the offensive will require materiel for more brigades, including artillery ammunition, fighting vehicles, main battle tanks and electronic warfare assets, according to Eichelsheim.

The Dutch general met with arms maker RTX during his Washington visit to discuss cooperation between U.S. and European companies. Conversations revolved around how missiles needed by Europe and Ukraine, such as FIM-92 Stingers, AIM-120 AMRAAMs and interceptors for the Patriot system, can be built more quickly .

Eichelsheim said he received a “very positive” response, and now European countries will need to provide more clarity on their needs and timetables, and what their respective industrial bases can contribute.

“We have to work the details out in the near future,” Eichelsheim said. “But also, how can we discuss this with the U.S. government? Because they play an important role as well. It’s U.S. technology that needs to be produced and shared.”

Ruitenberg reported from Paris; Robertson reported from Washington.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

巴黎和华盛顿——荷兰国防部长奥托·艾歇尔斯海姆将军表示，荷兰交付给乌克兰的F-16战斗机已经投入使用，并且“表现出色”。

荷兰将向乌克兰提供24架F-16战机及武器，并表示除遵守人道主义法外，对这些武器的使用方式没有任何限制。艾歇尔斯海姆将军周三在华盛顿举行的新闻发布会上表示，如果乌克兰认为有必要使用F-16战机对俄罗斯境内目标进行纵深打击，“我们对此没有任何限制”。

据乌克兰总统泽连斯基称，乌克兰本周使用西方提供的F-16战斗机击落了两波针对居民区和能源基础设施的俄罗斯导弹。

艾歇尔斯海姆以乌克兰军队安全为由，拒绝透露目前有多少架飞机在乌克兰境内运营。

这位将军表示，荷兰将在罗马尼亚部署另外18架F-16战斗机用于飞行员训练，其中部分飞机未来可能会移交给乌克兰。他还补充说，随着欧洲更多国家转向F-35联合攻击战斗机，乌克兰将获得更多F-16战机。

艾歇尔斯海姆说：“现在的重点应该是把飞行员和技术人员训练好。我们在罗马尼亚已经具备了训练乌克兰飞行员的能力。我们将看到，飞行员队伍的重心将从那些曾经驾驶米格战机（现在已经改装成F-16战机）的老飞行员，转移到那些刚刚从训练体系中走出来的年轻飞行员身上。”

这位荷兰将军表示，最大的挑战在于如何为F-16机队提供人员和物资保障。荷兰正在向乌克兰提供资金和数据，以确保这些战机能够继续飞行，而零部件供应和飞机大修将主要由乌克兰政府雇佣的民用承包商负责。

艾歇尔斯海姆说：“这项工作将在乌克兰境内进行，我们将为乌克兰人提供所需的资金。但要明白，这其中总会存在困难，因为可能会有外国人在乌克兰境内工作。所以，这始终存在风险。”

艾歇尔斯海姆表示，F-16战机及其机场将是俄罗斯的主要攻击目标，保护它们需要多层防空体系。他还说，乌克兰拥有完善的传感器系统，能够提供足够的预警时间，使战机能够对威胁做出反应。

艾歇尔斯海姆与华盛顿官员会面，讨论荷兰向乌克兰提供更多“爱国者”导弹系统的倡议，因为在俄罗斯本周发动空袭后，泽连斯基预计将要求更多防空资产。

他形容乌克兰入侵俄罗斯库尔斯克州的行动“技术上执行得非常出色”，利用机动性和新技术迅速夺取了地盘。艾歇尔斯海姆表示，基辅军方可以选择扩大在该地区的攻势，在这种情况下，乌克兰的盟友应该做好准备，考虑基辅提出的维持其在俄罗斯库尔斯克州军事存在的军事援助请求。

这次行动提振了乌克兰的士气，也让乌克兰在与俄罗斯的谈判中获得了筹码。

艾歇尔斯海姆说：“从军事角度来看，他们可以给俄罗斯联邦制造两难困境，我认为这正是他们应该做的。”他补充道，如果另一条战线（乌克兰战线）的局势如此僵持，就必须赋予他们赢得这场战斗的机动性。

这位将军表示，俄罗斯目前仍在继续其顿巴斯攻势，而乌克兰则因库尔斯克战役消耗了部分预备队，此次行动是否取得战略成功，还有待时间检验。

“但从战略角度来看，我们希望看到俄军做出反应，而我们至今仍未看到这种反应。”

艾歇尔斯海姆认为，俄罗斯持续关注顿巴斯“表明”俄罗斯领导人弗拉基米尔·普京如何看待他的领土和人民。“如果我是俄罗斯人，我会为此感到担忧。”

艾歇尔斯海姆表示，由于双方都“相当顽强地”构筑了防御工事，乌克兰很难夺回领土，而乌克兰要发动进攻，就需要更多旅的物资，包括炮弹、战车、主战坦克和电子战装备。

这位荷兰将军在访问华盛顿期间会见了武器制造商RTX，讨论美欧企业间的合作。会谈主要围绕如何更快地生产欧洲和乌克兰所需的导弹，例如FIM-92“毒刺”导弹、AIM-120“先进中程空对空导弹”（AMRAAM）以及“爱国者”导弹系统的拦截弹。

艾歇尔斯海姆表示，他收到了“非常积极”的回应，现在欧洲各国需要更清楚地说明他们的需求和时间表，以及他们各自的工业基础可以做出哪些贡献。

艾歇尔斯海姆说：“我们必须在近期内敲定细节。但同时，我们该如何与美国政府讨论此事？因为他们也扮演着重要的角色。这项技术需要研发和共享，而这需要美国的科技。”

鲁伊滕贝格从巴黎报道；罗伯逊从华盛顿报道。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。