MOSCOW, FACTBOX. /TASS/. On January 12, 2026, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that announced Russian troops delivered a strike by the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile system on January 9, crippling the Lvov state aircraft repair plant in western Ukraine that provided maintenance for F-16 fighter jets and produced long-range attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). TASS FACTBOX has prepared a report on F-16 fighter jets, their deliveries to Ukraine, and losses during the special military operation.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American light, all-weather, multirole fighter jet of the fourth generation. Developed in the first half of the 1970s by General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin). The YF-16 prototype first flew in 1974, and production versions have been in production since 1975. A total of over 4,600 aircraft of various modifications have been produced. The fighter jet is in service with more than 20 countries.
The decision to supply F-16 fighters to Ukraine was made by the United States and Western European countries in early 2023. In July of that year, at the NATO summit in Vilnius, 11 alliance countries signed a memorandum establishing a ‘coalition’ to transfer F-16 fighters decommissioned from their air forces to Ukraine and to train Ukrainian pilots and technical personnel for them. The coalition was led by the Netherlands and Denmark. It included Belgium, the UK, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden, and was later joined by the United States, France, Greece, and Bulgaria.
