Sabena Aerospace Engineering
Sabena Aerospace Engineering is a Belgian company specialising in the maintenance and repair of military and civil aircraft. It was formed from the technical services of the former Belgian national airline Sabena, which ceased operations in 2001. Its work includes servicing F-16 fighter jets, making it one of the firms responsible for scheduled maintenance on aircraft of this type in Europe.
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More than half of Ukraine's F-16s grounded by Belgian maintenance delays
A Wall Street Journal report says more than half of Ukraine's F-16 fighters are non-combat-ready because phased technical inspections carried out by Belgian contractor Sabena Aerospace Engineering under a U.S. contract are taking far longer than in the United States. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed to the Financial Times that roughly half the fleet is in long-term repair in Europe and said Ukraine wants to move most of that maintenance onto its own territory with Western support. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman publicly disputed the 'catastrophically low' readiness framing, saying turnaround times are actually shortening.