US House Armed Services Committee says sending F-16 aircraft to Ukraine is "not a wise use of resources"

This was reported by CNN.

"The honest truth is the cost of trying to get the F-16 up and ready to operate in Ukraine, even if we basically said there’s nothing more important than that one weapon system, and spent all of our time and all of our resources on doing it, best case scenario, we could maybe get some operational F-16’s into Ukraine within a year, maybe eight months if we really pushed it," said Adam Smith, a senior member of the House, a Democrat from Washington, at a hearing on the war in Ukraine.

Smith emphasized that the F-16 would "struggle to survive" on the battlefield in Ukraine, and that it "is not a wise use of resources that are needed to win the fight."

"You don't just have to train the pilots. You have to train the mechanics, you have to have airfields that can accommodate the F-16 and you have to have the spare parts to make it work," the congressman added.

• On February 24, Zelenskyy announced training for Ukrainian pilots and the prospect of aircraft delivery from "three more European countries."

• On the anniversary of the Russian invasion, US President Joe Biden said that he "for now" ruled out sending the latest US F-16 fighters to Ukraine.