What is the F16 fighter jet, why does Ukraine want it – and how soon can it be delivered?
The US has authorised western allies to give F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine – and endorsed the training of Ukrainian pilots to fly the warplanes.
The move by US President Joe Biden was welcomed by the UK, Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.
On Friday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted: “The UK will work together with the USA and the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark to get Ukraine the combat air capability it needs. We stand united.”
But how many jets will be delivered, when and which countries will provide them?
Here Sky News takes a closer look at the F-16 fighter jets and their significance for Ukraine’s war efforts.
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US Security briefing on F-16s to Ukraine
Why would F-16s be so important for the war?
Sky News’ military analyst Sean Bell says that although Russia has more tanks and aircraft, the people of Ukraine are proving tenacious and courageous on the battlefield.
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Ukraine has gained confidence with the West providing more support and longer-range weapons. However, at the moment, Mr Bell said Zelenskyy has been asking for the capability for the past year, adding “fighter aircraft are the one thing that he can’t match Russia with.”
He adds that if the West provides manned combat aircraft, then the Russian air force “most certainly wouldn’t stand a chance.”
The F-16s hold significance in supporting Ukrainians in the war, but Mr Bell says it might take months or even years for military troops to learn how to operate the aircraft.
“This is about giving capability. And Zelenskyy has been banging the drum up until now.
“The West has been reluctant to do that because they know it will take time, but it would prove a very decisive capability in this conflict.”
What are the F-16s?
The F-16 is built by the American defence contractor Lockheed Martin.
It is a multi-role fighter aircraft created for the United States Air Force.
The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 locations for mounting weapons and other equipment.
Its payload typically consists of two 2,000lb (907kg) bombs, two AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missiles, two AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles and two 2,400lb (1,088kg) external fuel tanks.
The jet can travel at speeds up to 1,500mph and has a range of more than 2,002 miles.
It has a wingspan of 32ft 8in (9.9m) and a length of 49ft 5in (13.8m). It weighs 19,700lb (8,935kg) without fuel and has a maximum takeoff weight of 37,500lb (17,010kg).
There is both a single-seat and two-seat model of the aircraft.
In 1991, during the Gulf War, F-16s were used to attack airfields, military production facilities and other targets.
It has also been used and flown in American conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and the Persian Gulf.
They are operated by several countries other than the US, including Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
When can F-16s be realistically delivered?
There are two key factors to think about.
As F-16s are produced by the US, the Americans would need to provide permission to other nations to give their F-16 aircraft.
“The second thing is F-16s are the most widely exported aircraft in the world as there are a lot of them about,” Bell adds.
Zelenskyy gave Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle a helmet during a visit to London
There are two factors to consider for the F-16s plan to fall into place.
First, training must take place to ensure pilots can fly the aircraft.
And second, it’s important to think about how the F-16s will actually be delivered.
Bell added: “Although there’s lots of countries operating them because it’s so expensive, nobody has more aircraft than they need, and nobody could afford to give to 20 to 30 of these platforms to Ukraine.”
Which countries could provide F-16s?
At the moment, there are around 25 countries that currently operate the F-16.
The fighter jets come at a high price, and Bell says that although many countries have them, “none of them have spare aircraft.”
He adds: “They’re just too expensive. You generally buy what you can afford and that’s not enough for everything you want to have them for.
“So none of the nations will be able to get rid of excess jets. But I suspect what will happen is that they will need to focus on a commonality of jets.
“So who operates a certain block and a certain age of aircraft and see whether there is some shuffling behind the scenes that different countries can give each other aircraft so that you get a common aircraft that comes to Ukraine.”
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‘We have freedom, give us wings to protect it’
How soon could Ukraine start using them?
US officials have estimated that it could take 18 months for training and delivery of the jets.
On Monday, Emmanuel Macron said France was open to training Ukrainian pilots straight away.
London has agreed to start training pilots in the spring and said it would look at shortening the sessions for experienced Ukrainian pilots.
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Wednesday: “This is not about gifting weapon systems.
“This is about gifting a platform. If anyone follows Formula One, you don’t just gift a car, you have to gift a pit team.”
Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.
Speaking with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.
“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States,” he added, “going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”
Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.
Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.
The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.
It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump against Vladimir Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.
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Trump says Putin ‘talks nice and then bombs everybody’
During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call,” but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.
“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.
Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.
After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”
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Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.
He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.
At least 30 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Sweida in clashes between local military groups and tribes, according to Syria’s interior ministry.
Officials say initial figures suggest around 100 people have also been injured in the city, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups.
The interior ministry said its forces will directly intervene to resolve the conflict, which the Reuters news agency said involved fighting between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes.
It marks the latest episode of sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minority groups have increased since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.
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In March, Sky’s Stuart Ramsay described escalating violence within Syria
The violence reportedly erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida.
Last April, Sunni militia clashed with armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and fighting later spread to another district near the capital.
But this is the first time the fighting has been reported inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports the fighting was centred in the Maqwas neighbourhood east of Sweida and villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city.
It adds that Syria’s Ministry of Defence has deployed military convoys to the area.
Western nations, including the US and UK, have been increasingly moving towards normalising relations with Syria.
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UK aims to build relationship with Syria
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Concerns among minority groups have intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.
That was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.
The city of Sweida is in southern Syria, about 24 miles (38km) north of the border with Jordan.
The man convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been charged with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend.
Rudy Guede, 38, was the only person who was definitively convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Ms Kercher in Perugia, Italy, back in 2007.
He will be standing trial again in November after an ex-girlfriend filed a police report in the summer of 2023 accusing Guede of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.
Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was released from prison for the murder of Leeds University student Ms Kercher in 2021, after having served about 13 years of a 16-year sentence.
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Since last year – when this investigation was still ongoing – Guede has been under a “special surveillance” regime, Sky News understands, meaning he was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations, including via social media, and had to inform police any time he left his city of residence, Viterbo, as ruled by a Rome court.
Guede has been serving a restraining order and fitted with an electronic ankle tag.
The Kercher murder case, in the university city of Perugia, was the subject of international attention.
Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was found murdered in the flat she shared with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
The Briton’s throat had been cut and she had been stabbed 47 times.
(L-R) Raffaele Sollecito, Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox. File pic: AP
Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.
Both were initially convicted of murder, but Italy’s highest court overturned their convictions, acquitting them in 2015.
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