Ukrainian Ruslan Aircraft Delivers F-16 Fuselages from the U.S. to Polish Hub
The An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft delivered F-16 fighter jet fuselages from the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to Poland.
OSINT researcher Keystone Intel reported the transportation of the fuselages on the X platform.
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is the largest aircraft storage facility in the world. It houses a vast number of aircraft, some of which can be restored for flight or used as donor parts for other aircraft.
The An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft operated by Antonov Airlines was used to transport several F-16 fighter jet fuselages, likely in the ADF version, to the American logistics hub in Rzeszów, Poland.
Rzeszów is the main hub used for sending military aid to Ukraine, so the fuselages may be intended to support Ukraine’s fleet of F-16s.
Photos of the fuselage loading process were published by the transport company HAULPRO TRANSPORT LLC. The aircraft were wrapped in special transport film used for shipping aviation equipment by sea and air.
According to Keystone Intel, the An-124 “Be Brave Like Kharkiv” (UR-82027, tail number #508015) landed without cargo at Tucson International Airport on April 25, 2025. This airport is located just a few kilometers from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base — the site of the U.S. military’s “aircraft boneyard.”
As for the version of the transferred aircraft, some of the fuselages featured the distinctive APX-113 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) antenna on the nose, which is characteristic only of the ADF interceptor version. These aircraft were used by U.S. National Guard units and were retired in the 2000s.
Since fighter jets of this version are no longer in service with any country, there is a strong likelihood that they were transferred either as parts donors or as decoy aircraft.
It is worth noting that F-16 ADF jets were featured in an official video by the Ukrainian Air Force; however, given their unusual appearance, it is likely that they are not in airworthy condition.
Militarnyi previously reported that the Ukrainian Air Force had begun using F-16s for strikes against Russian ground targets.
For these ground attacks, Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets are equipped with precision-guided bombs, including bombs such as the SDB and JDAM-ER.
