Slovakia plans to procure four additional F-16 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin – this was confirmed by Prime Minister Robert Fico in talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Bratislava on February 15, 2026.
“We will continue our military cooperation. As you know, we have procured F-16 fighter jets from the US. There is interest in increasing the number to 18 fighter planes and we are currently discussing how we can acquire four more planes for our armed forces, because it is not a good sign for our sovereignty that our airspace is currently occupied by fighter planes from the Czech Republic. Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland is protected,” explained Fico, but at the same time did not fail to take a sharp shot at his predecessor: “We got into this sad situation because our own military equipment was sold to Ukraine from 2022 to 2023. Ukraine was given away to Ukraine.”
At the end of 2018, Slovakia concluded a contract for the purchase of a total of 14 F-16 C/D Block 70s from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Delivery of the aircraft was initially delayed, with the first aircraft arriving at the Kuchyňa military airfield in summer 2024. There are currently already ten aircraft in the formation of the Slovakian armed forcesThe remaining four F-16s are being used to train Slovakian pilots in the United States; however, they should land on home soil soon.
Here for more news about the Slovakian armed forces and here to further news about Lockheed Martin.
