F-16 fighter jet manufacturer Lockheed Martin will increase its production

This is stated in the Financial Times’ interview with the chief operating officer for the American defense company Frank St. John.

Lockheed Martin says it is ready to meet demand for its F-16 aircraft as some of Ukraine's closest European allies renew efforts to provide Kyiv with the fighter jets.

Frank St. John, chief operating officer for the largest US defense contractor, said there has been "a lot of talk about third-party transfers of the F-16s" - whereby countries would re-export their US aircraft to Ukraine.

• On January 25, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that Ukraine's "wish list" of weapons supplied by the West includes fighter jets.

• On January 25, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ruled out the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine.

• As noted by Politico on January 26, Ukraine's international partners have begun debating the supply of modern fighter jets to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The debates followed the announcement of the tanks transfer.