Ukraine gets its F-16s

THE FIRSTFGF F batch of the that Ukraine is preparing to receive is expected to arrive in late September—too late to play a role in the counter-offensive that could begin at any moment. However, the decision, made by Joe Biden just before the in Hiroshima in May, still has immediate significance.The Ukrainians for Western fighter jets almost from the day of Russia’s invasion. But the answer from the Pentagon, which can block other -16 user countries from supplying the American-made aircraft, was always negative. The reasons given were of two sorts. The first set were supposedly practical. It would take 18 months to train Ukrainian pilots and ground crew to fly and maintain aircraft as sophisticated and unfamiliar as the-16. Ukrainian runways were not of a high enough standard. The cost would be prohibitive. Ukraine, so the chairman of America’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, patronisingly averred, should focus on other priorities.