Lockheed Martin stands ready to meet Ukraine’s demand for F-16s

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According to Lockheed Martin’s COO Frank St. John, while the company does not participate directly in negotiations on the potential supply of jets to Ukraine, it was involved in numerous discussions with third parties who are considering making their stock of F-16s available to Kyiv.

According to him, Lockheed Martin plans to “ramp up production on F-16s in Greenville (South Carolina) to get to the place where we will be able to backfill pretty capably any countries that choose to do third party transfers to help with the current conflict.”

Any European country looking to supply Ukraine with its F-16s would need to get a re-export permit from Washington, first.

Read also: Dutch foreign minister says Netherlands may transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

“Along with our international allies and partners, we are in regular communication with the Ukrainians on their needs and requests,” a U.S. defense official told FT.

Read also: Ukraine plans to create Leopard tank brigade, FM Kuleba says

“At this time, we have nothing to announce regarding F-16s.”

On Jan. 23, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said “the wheels are in motion” on Ukraine potentially getting Western fighter jets.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine