A Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down a drone that breached Romania’s airspace on July 24, 2026. U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Christopher Campbell
The Armed Forces of Ukraine said one of its F-16 fighter jets had crashed, and that the pilot ejected safely.
The Ukrainian Air Force said in a July 29 statement on Telegram that it lost contact with the F-16 while the pilot was performing a combat mission to intercept Russian air targets.
“According to preliminary data, an emergency situation occurred on board the aircraft, [and] the pilot was forced to eject,” the statement said.
It said specialists and law enforcement were working at the crash site to determine the causes of the incident. No civilian casualties were reported.
Ukraine has received a number of F-16s from some NATO countries, including Denmark and the Netherlands, and began using them in operations in 2024.
F-16s are manufactured by the U.S. company Lockheed Martin, and Kyiv had been trying for some time to obtain the jets, due to their destructive power and global availability. They are equipped with a 20mm cannon and can carry bombs, missiles, and rockets.
Prior to their arrival, Ukraine was reliant on an aging fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29s and Sukhoi Su-27s, which are outgunned by Russia’s more advanced fleet.
Kyiv also plans on expanding its air force with 20 new Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets by 2030, with Stockholm agreeing to donate 16 older models next year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in May that Ukraine plans to buy 150 Gripens in total.
F-16 Air-to-Air Hit
The top U.S. general at a Senate hearing last week said the Ukrainian F-16 conducted the first air-to-air hit against a Russian fighter jet.
“I’ll note that recently, we had the first air-to-air kill where a Ukrainian F-16 shot down a Russian fighter,” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 21.
Caine did not identify the Russian aircraft hit by the F-16 , or specify the date. But Ukrainian military media outlet Militarnyi cited a July 8 report by the Ukrainian Air Force, which wrote in a post on X that day that it had shot down a Russian Su-35 multi-role fighter.
Both the F-16 and Su-35 are fourth-generation fighter jets.
A Sukhoi SU-35 jet fighter performs its demonstration flight during the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris, on June 20, 2013. Francois Mori/AP Photo
NATO allies use F-16s, which have been involved in a number of incidents when Russian drones have strayed into allied territory.
Earlier this week, Romania said its air force F-16s had shot down a Russian UAV after it breached NATO airspace, the third such incident in three days.
The incident prompted Bucharest to summon the Russian ambassador, Vladimir Lipaev, who was expelled on July 27.
Moscow has denied violating Romanian airspace and condemned the removal of the diplomat.
Reuters contributed to this report.
