“I am writing to express the United States’ full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors […] It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty” said Blinken.

Will this solidify a Ukrainian victory?

U.S. officials have privately said that F-16 jets would have been of little help to Ukraine in its current counteroffensive and will not be a game changer when they eventually arrive given Russian air defense systems and contested skies over Ukraine

Or will Russian radar and missle systems tear them up?

  • @jeffw
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    331 year ago

    Fuck Putin, any little bit helps

  • @[email protected]
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    51 year ago

    How fucking long have they been saying Ukraine will get F-16? The war will end before they get them! It’s likely they won’t be operational in Ukraine before 2025.

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    41 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to defend against Russian invaders as soon as pilot training is completed, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

    “We welcome Washington’s decision to pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine,” Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

    A coalition of 11 countries will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 fighter jets later this month in Denmark, the Danish defence ministry said on Friday.

    NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands have been leading international efforts to train pilots as well as support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately enable Ukraine to obtain F-16s for use in its war with Russia.

    “I am writing to express the United States’ full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors,” Blinken said in a letter to the two officials, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

    Kyiv will not be able to operate U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets this coming autumn and winter, Ukraine air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television late on Wednesday.


    The original article contains 573 words, the summary contains 207 words. Saved 64%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • @TokenBoomer
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    -351 year ago

    Ask yourself; why does the US have to approve this?

    • OKRainbowKid
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      281 year ago

      I don’t have to ask myself, this is a well known fact, not some secret gotcha.

    • @Leviathan
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      181 year ago

      You can actually look it up. Munitions cannot be sold or transferred without the consent of the fabricating country. Asking yourself is so much better when you’ve got facts!

      • @mind
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        21 year ago

        deleted by creator

      • @TokenBoomer
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        -111 year ago

        Ask yourself, why are we selling/ leasing weapons?

        • @[email protected]
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          1 year ago

          Why telling people to ask themselves, when you could just say what you want to say?

          If you’re trying to communicate and get a point across that’s way better.

          • @TokenBoomer
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            -31 year ago

            Because people don’t want to be told what to think. It’s more effective if they discover it themselves.

            • @[email protected]
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              1 year ago

              A discussion is not about telling people what to think, but rather that you disseminate what it is you think, so that people may respond to it.

              So you do want to change the way people think, ideally into the way you think… butttt you want them to find out by themselves.

              If that’s your way of communicating, in my personal opinion, thats not very efficient, and a bit dumb counterproductive…

              • @TokenBoomer
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                -21 year ago

                You know what’s dumb? Calling someone dumb whose mind your trying to change. I don’t want people to think like me, but I do want them to think for themselves. Not just reapplying jingoistic talking points they pull from the ether.

                • @mind
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                  31 year ago

                  deleted by creator

                • @[email protected]
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                  21 year ago

                  I’m not trying to change your mind at all, nor would I see myself as capable of doing that. I was merely saying that your method of discourse might be detrimental to what you are trying to say.

                  I will retract my dumb statement and will reword it to say ‘counterproductive’, sorry for the insult.

        • @SaakoPaahtaa
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          31 year ago

          Ask yourself, why James Bond is never seen having a shit?

          • @TokenBoomer
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            -41 year ago

            Ask yourself why people are apathetic and make jokes about war?

            • @[email protected]
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              1 year ago

              Ask yourself why Chuck Norris doesn’t just RKO pootin out of a 10th story window 🤨🤔🧐

              • @TokenBoomer
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                -11 year ago

                Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.

                Dwight D. Eisenhower

      • @TokenBoomer
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        -51 year ago

        Then you’re not asking the right questions. Who is benefiting monetarily from this war?

    • @AngryCommieKender
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      1 year ago

      Because we made the things and only lease them to other countries? Mainly cause other countries don’t want the full maintenance costs of our platforms.

      I don’t know that is the case, but it seems like a fairly logical way to ensure that our platforms don’t get sold on the black market by anyone other than US