On Thursday, January 29, 2026, the F-16 FMS Contracting Office, part of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) of the USAF Logistics Command at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, signed a contract worth 235,449,716 USD with the Belgian company Sabena Aerospace Engineering to provide airframe and engine support for Ukrainian Lockheed Martin F-16AM/BM multirole aircraft.
Photo: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Powitriani Syły Zbrojnych Sył Ukrajiny)
The contract covers operational support of aircraft airframes and Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 turbofan engines at the Intermediate and Depot levels, as well as parts management support for Ukraine. The work will be performed at Sabena’s facility in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium, and is to be completed by January 28, 2029. This contract falls under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program to Ukraine and was awarded as a sole-source procurement. At the time of contract award, FMS funds totaling 69,725,380 USD were obligated (Ukrainian Air Force on the operational use of F-16s to date).
Ukraine currently operates several dozen F-16AM/BM aircraft, according to information from June, 50 of the 95 pledged aircraft have been delivered. These come from donations by Denmark (12 of 19 aircraft; the jets were officially retired on January 18 and should therefore be transferred to Ukraine shortly – ed. note), the Kingdom of the Netherlands (24 of 24 aircraft), and Norway (14 of 30 aircraft). The remaining 30 aircraft from Belgium are delayed, with deliveries expected to begin in 2026. However, four aircraft have so far been lost. In addition, the United States has transferred at least three non-airworthy F-16ADF airframes for spare parts. Locally, a mobile aircraft maintenance complex known as Project 61 has also been developed.
Ukrainian F-16s are armed with short-range AIM-9L/M Sidewinder and medium-range AIM-120B AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) air-to-air missiles, used to shoot down Russian drones and cruise missiles (a Su-35S has also been downed), as well as GBU-39/B SDB I (Small Diameter Bomb) satellite-guided glide bombs. Ukraine also possesses newer AIM-120C missiles and AIM-9X missiles, although the latter are allocated to NASAMS air defense systems. The aircraft also carry AN/ALQ-131(V) ECM (Electronic Countermeasures) electronic warfare pods.
Support for the Ukrainian F-16 Fleet
On September 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense signed a contract worth 25,998,051 USD with Lockheed Martin Systems (part of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Corp.) for the provision of operational support services for the Ukrainian aircraft fleet.
Earlier, on May 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of State approved a potential sale to Ukraine of an operational support package for these aircraft with a maximum value of 310.5 million USD. The government in Kyiv had requested the option to acquire a package of training services and F-16 operational support along with associated equipment.
A previous F-16 support package was approved by the administration of then-President Joe Biden on December 10, 2024, with a maximum value of 266.4 million USD. It was within this package that Sabena was included.
Earlier information on support for Ukrainian F-16s also included a contract dated September 20, 2024, for the delivery of two landing assistance system sets from Advanced Navigation and Positioning Corp., as well as efforts to enhance aircraft combat capability and survivability through the development, testing, and delivery of a full spectrum of electromagnetic warfare software support, as reported on August 26, 2024.