Belgium to become largest F-16 donor to Ukraine with 53 aircraft
May 11, 2026
Belgium is set to become the biggest fighter jet donor to Ukraine, boosting its pledged F-16 Fighting Falcon deliveries by 23 aircraft to 53. This is similar to the F-16 commitments of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway combined.
Belgium to boost F-16 deliveries from 30 to 53
The Belgian news outlet, Le Soir, citing information published in the newspaper Le Vif, Belgium will now eventually transfer 53 F-16s to Ukraine. This is up from the 30 previously announced.
Belgium first announced it would supply Ukraine with 30 F-16s and that these were to be delivered by 2028.
However, Belgium has been compelled to delay deliveries somewhat due to delays with its receiving replacement F-35A aircraft. Belgium has now drafted up a revised plan, confirmed by the office of Belgian Minister Theo Francken.
Under this plan, Belgium will supply seven F-16s to Ukraine in 2026. Of these four will remain behind for Ukrainian training, meaning three will arrive in Ukraine this year.
Another five are to follow in 2027, with deliveries picking up to 14 aircraft in 2028 and the remaining 27 to follow in 2029.
Le Soir adds, “These are indicative dates; the schedule must take into account the operational requirements of the Air Force.”
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The irony of Belgium’s large F-16 donation
In the first couple of years of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Belgium was seen as something of a laggard in donating equipment, compared with many Western European countries. This was especially compared with its neighbour, the Netherlands, or even Luxembourg when adjusting for the latter’s size.
Belgium became noted for making up endless excuses for why donations were not possible. For example, the cost of restoring retired Leopard 1 tanks, then in private hands, was too expensive.
When the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway started leading the effort to donate F-16s to Ukraine, Belgium was a logical member to join the coalition. But once again, it dragged its feet.
In 2023, Belgium said its F-16s were too worn out to send to Ukraine and that it wouldn’t donate aircraft that it wouldn’t fly itself. This was widely reported at the time by outlets like Euractiv.
So now it becomes ironic that Belgium is set to be the largest donor of fighter jets to Ukraine of any nation by a large margin.
Belgium was a couple of years behind in F-35 transition
The reason for Belgium transferring basically its whole inventory of F-16s can be partially attributed to it being a couple of years behind in transitioning to the F-35 compared with its peers. The other three countries have now fully transitioned to the F-35, while the first F-35s only arrived in Belgium in October 2025.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, and serious discussions about transferring F-16s to Ukraine didn’t start until mid-2023.
By that time, Norway, the Netherlands, and Denmark already had pre-Ukraine agreements to transfer many of their F-16s to Ukraine. While the final Norwegian-Romanian and Danish-Argentine final deals were signed post-invasion, their talks stretched before the invasion.
In December 2021, Romania announced it had reached a deal to acquire 32 F-16s from Norway, along with spares. The Netherlands agreed to sell 18 F-16s to Romania, and Denmark sold 24 F-16s to Argentina. Denmark then redirected the proceeds of the sale to Ukraine.
⚠ FAB autoriza sobrevoo e pouso de aeronaves F-16 da Força Aérea Argentina no Brasil ⚠
— Roberto Caiafa (@beto_caiafa) December 3, 2025
A Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB) informa que aeronaves F-16, pertencentes à Força Aérea Argentina, estão autorizadas a sobrevoar e pousar na Base Aérea de Natal (BANT), no Rio Grande do Norte… pic.twitter.com/ZYJ45cUr1n
These contracts sometimes involved the best airframes they had, especially with Norway. Norway was left with only six airframes that could be feasibly restored and returned to service, with the other remaining aircraft only fit for spare parts.
AGN recently reported those Norwegian F-16s remain in workshops in Belgium and have not yet been transferred. This means Ukraine’s fleet of operational F-16s is ex-Dutch (24 aircraft) and ex-Danish (19 aircraft).
By mid-2023, Belgium hadn’t yet had any prior commitments to sell its F-16s and was left in an awkward position where it was hard not to donate its jets. It seems Belgium has finally given in and said Ukraine can have the lot.
Featured Image: USAF
