The F-16 fighter jet everyone wants.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon may be 50 years old but it's still the combat aircraft everyone wants. Ukraine is the latest nation trying to join the F-16 club which already has about two dozen members around the world. The reason it's so popular is not because it's the most advanced fighter aircraft on the market but because it's small, fast, agile, highly manoeuvrable, lightweight and at $15-18 million each, relatively cheap. Since it has been around for so long the F-16 has engaged in air-to-air combat more than any other American fighter jet. French Mirage jets, European Tornados, American Phantom F-4s, F/A-18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats and Swedish Gripens all have their merits and battle scars. But the F-16 is basically the Mini Cooper of the fighter aircraft world. The F-16A, the single-seat version, first flew in December 1976. There is also a two-seat model, the F-16B. They were built by a consortium of five Nato countries, led by the US. The others were Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. Portugal joined the consortium more recently. In air combat it's versatility means it can outpace and outsmart most opponents. With its light fuselage and maximum speed of more than twice the speed of sound, the F-16 can withstand up to nine Gs - nine times the force of gravity. In Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 US-led mission to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's occupying troops, the F-16 flew more sorties than any other aircraft. With such a pedigree the F-16 is the Kyiv government's priority fighter jet on its shopping list. President Biden indicated he would not be sending F-16s to Ukraine in a brief comment to a reporter at the White House. However, a White House source told The Times: "I don't think jets are off the table. But I also don't think anything is imminent or likely to happen soon. If F-16s were to happen it would likely be a long term thing since the training would take a long time." "Ukraine will certainly need to control its air space in the medium to long run and I don't think there should be any objection in principle to providing F-16s to Kyiv," Eric Edelman, a former senior Pentagon official, said.