According to NL Times, the Dutch government will look into supplying some of its 68 F-16A/B MLU fighter jets (it originally had 213 aircraft) to Ukraine if the Kyiv government asks for it. During a parliamentary debate on January 19, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra said the Cabinet would look at such a request with an “open mind.” In Davos, Minister of Defense Kajsa Ollongren also said that the Netherlands is willing to help pay for modern Leopard 2 tanks that other countries send to Ukraine, NL Times reports.
All operational F-16A/Bs operated by the Netherlands Air Force (KLu, Koninklijke Luchtmacht) went through the Mid-Life Update (MLU) by 2003. A Multinational Operational Test and Evaluation Center for the F-16A/B Mid-Life Update was established at Leeuwarden air base in 1997. As part of continuing defense cuts, the number of KLu F-16s to undergo MLU was reduced from 170 to 138 in mid-1993. After more defense budget cuts, the current fleet consists of 68 F-16AM/BM operational aircraft.
In the interception role, KLu (Dutch) F-16s are equipped with AIM-9N, -9L, and -9M Sidewinder AAM’s. AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles are used for longer-range interceptions. All F-16 units have Mk82/84 bombs and cluster weapons. In 1997, the RNLAF awarded Hughes Missile Systems Company a contract for 36 AGM-65G missiles. During operations over former Yugoslavia, the RNLAF detachment in Italy leased AGM-65D missiles from the USAF, pending delivery of the AGM-65G. 312 squadron has a tactical nuclear commitment, carried out with US-supplied nuclear weapons. The RNlAF has also acquired LGBs (GBU-24, GBU-10, GBU-12, CBU-87), and will acquire AIM-9X and JDAM.