{"id":73138,"date":"2026-07-14T08:35:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T08:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/07\/14\/ukraine-agrees-on-plan-to-acquire-16-rafale-jets-frances-macron-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:35:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:35:56","slug":"ukraine-agrees-on-plan-to-acquire-16-rafale-jets-frances-macron-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2026\/07\/14\/ukraine-agrees-on-plan-to-acquire-16-rafale-jets-frances-macron-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine agrees on plan to acquire 16 Rafale jets, France\u2019s Macron says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PARIS \u2014 Ukraine has agreed on a plan to acquire 16 Rafale fighter jets from France together with the accompanying weapon systems, French President Emmanuel Macron said at a press conference here late Monday following a meeting of the group of countries that have pledged support to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Macron agreed on a roadmap between their two countries that also includes the acquisition of a first batch of SAMP\/T NG air-defense batteries, complementing systems and their missiles to be delivered in coming weeks, Macron said. France will also provide radar systems and additional missiles, the president said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The countries further approved licensing agreements for production in Ukraine of the AASM glide-bomb kit, the Aster 30 air-defense interceptor that arms the SAMP\/T system as well as the SCALP\/Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile, Macron said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukraine has suffered a shortage of interceptors to defeat ballistic threats, leaving the country with a gap in its air defenses as Russia has stepped up ballistic-missile attacks. United States President Donald Trump said earlier this month Ukraine would be allowed to manufacture its own interceptors for the Patriot air-defense system, though setting up local production <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/07\/10\/ukraine-can-soon-build-its-own-patriots-but-it-could-take-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">could take years<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUkraine has immediate needs, particularly in the anti-ballistic area,\u201d Macron said. He said the bilateral agreement is part of that, in addition to an initiative by Zelenskyy to create a coalition \u201cthat will accelerate Ukraine\u2019s anti-ballistic defense in a very concrete way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nine countries including France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Norway <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2026\/07\/14\/9-nations-back-ukraines-patriot-alternative-freyja-and-want-it-flying-in-a-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">joined Ukraine in a coalition<\/a> that will develop an anti-ballistic air-defense system, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.government.se\/statements\/2026\/07\/joint-declaration-on-the-establishment-of-the-integrated-anti-ballistic-missile-coalition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">joint statement<\/a>. The system, called Freyja, will be centered on an interceptor from Ukrainian defense firm Fire Point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukraine is also seeking to strengthen its air force and compensate for the loss of Soviet-era aircraft, agreeing in May to buy 20 new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2026\/05\/28\/ukraine-to-buy-20-new-gripen-jets-sweden-to-donate-older-jets-sooner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">Gripen fighter jets<\/a>, and with Sweden planning to donate 16 older models next year. The country has previously received F-16 fighter jets, which are being used primarily in an air defense role to shoot down Russian cruise missiles and Shahed attack drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first Rafale jets are expected to fly in Ukrainian skies as early as 2028 or 2029, and training of Ukrainian pilots will start in coming months, Macron said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukraine in November signed a letter of intent to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2025\/11\/17\/ukraine-signs-letter-of-intent-to-buy-up-to-100-rafales-from-france\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">buy up to 100 Rafale jets<\/a> manufactured by Dassault Aviation. That followed a similar letter of intent in October between Ukraine and Sweden for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2025\/10\/23\/ukraine-gets-in-line-for-swedish-gripen-e-fighter-jets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">export of up to 150 Gripen jets<\/a>, produced by Saab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukraine has agreed on a plan to acquire 16 Rafale fighter jets from France together with the accompanying weapon systems, along with air-defense equipment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":120259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,46,11,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3427],"class_list":["post-73138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MW5PHIYXUBH3ZPMVIVV6I75TYY","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2026\/07\/14\/ukraine-agrees-on-plan-to-acquire-16-rafale-jets-frances-macron-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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