Many months have passed since several NATO countries (Belgium, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, with U.S. support) announced their willingness to transfer their F-16s to Ukraine. A total of about 80 aircraft are expected to be delivered to Ukraine.
The long timelines are primarily due to the need to train Ukrainian pilots and technicians to operate Western aircraft, which are significantly different from the ex-Soviet models currently used by the Ukrainian Air Force.
Today, it was officially declared by the Ukrainian Air Force that the first F-16s have arrived in Ukraine. In this initial phase, there are up to 42 estimated Dutch jets and the already announced 19 Danish ones, for a total of 44 units.
Notably, the first F-16 for the Royal Netherlands Air Force was made back in 1979, with the last one produced in February 1992. Denmark started receiving F-16s in January 1980, with an initial order of 58 fighters, and in the mid-1980s, they ordered 12 more to replace the most worn-out aircraft from the first batch. All the F-16s of the Dutch and Danish air forces were modernized from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s under the Mid-Life Update (MLU) program and were also regularly maintained to extend their service life.
In summary, what differentiates the F-16 MLU from the basic version is that the standard radar was replaced with the AN/APG-66(V)2, which increased the target detection range to up to 110 km.
While this may not be a game-changer in the war, especially in such relatively small numbers, it certainly makes Ukrainian skies much less safe for Russian aircraft.