OSLO (Reuters) – Norway has decided to donate F-16 combat aircraft to Ukraine for its battle against Russia’s invasion, Norwegian broadcaster TV2 reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.
TV2 did not say how many jets Norway would provide.
The Norwegian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
If confirmed, Norway would become the third nation – after the Netherlands and Denmark – to announce donations of U.S.-made F-16 jets to Ukraine.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Thursday and announced donations of anti-aircraft missiles and other equipment, but made no announcement regarding F-16s.
F-16s have been on Ukraine’s wish list for a long time because of their destructive power and global availability. The aircraft is equipped with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, rockets and missiles.
Many NATO allies have F-16s – originally designed in the 1970s – making it easier to find spare parts compared with the Russian planes currently used by Ukraine.
Last year, the Norwegian air force retired its fleet of 57 F-16s and later agreed to sell 32 of then to NATO ally Romania in what Stoere has said was a “fixed and settled” deal.
A further 12 aircraft are due to be sold to a private company providing training for the U.S. Air Force, although this deal has yet to receive final approval and some analysts have said these jets could be suitable for a donation to Ukraine.
Of the 13 remaining F-16s, the Norwegian defence ministry said last year many were too costly or hard to repair and might be placed in a museum, used for parts or sent for scrapping.
Norway has replaced its F-16s with the successor model F-35.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Nora Buli and Mark Heinrich)
