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cailianshe news, september 1 (editor: bian chun)according to media reports citing us officials,the biden administration has rejected a proposal to send u.s. contractors to ukraine to maintain western military equipment, including f-16 fighter jets, citing security concernsearlier, an f-16 fighter jet that had just arrived in ukraine crashed while on a mission.

the u.s. national security council has studied a proposal to send civilian contractors to ukraine to maintain f-16 fighter jets and other military assets, officials familiar with the matter said.but the intelligence community and others say that's too risky right now.。

"the intelligence community has expressed concern that russia may be targeting u.s. contractors in ukraine," a u.s. official said.

instead, the united states hopes that european countries can take more responsibility for maintaining the f-16s. the report said that european countries are expected to step in to provide maintenance and personnel support for the us-made aircraft and other weapons sent to ukraine.

however, the us government has not ruled out the possibility of sending american contractors to ukraine in the future, but this is not expected to happen soon.

since the beginning of the conflict between russia and ukraine, the united states has been delaying the delivery of certain weapons to ukraine in an effort to avoid direct conflict with russia. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky had repeatedly requested western allies to provide f-16 fighter jets, but the united states did not agree until last summer.

the report said that it now appears that it is still a red line for the us department of defense to send civilians to maintain us-made weapons.

although some officials within the pentagon support sending american contractors to ukraine to perform maintenance,the biden administration is concerned that the department of defense lacks adequate response plans if these people are attacked。

on august 25, a ukrainian f-16 fighter jet crashed while defending against a large-scale missile and drone attack by russia. the pilot, codenamed "moonfish", was also killed. metz was one of the few f-16 pilots in ukraine who had received western training. the f-16 fighter jet crash and the death of the pilot were a major blow to ukraine.

the crash of the f-16 fighter jet was shocking because the first batch of f-16 fighter jets, including the crashed one, arrived in ukraine only weeks ago. six of the 80 f-16 fighter jets promised by the west were reportedly delivered at the end of july.

the american-designed aircraft is one of the air force's most iconic jet fighters and requires highly skilled maintenance and other support. each fighter typically requires dozens of support personnel. all countries, including the united states, rely to some extent on private companies and their personnel to help maintain the complex warplanes.

ukraine has always hoped that advanced western fighter jets can bring battlefield advantages to the ukrainian army. however, many of the f-16 fighter jets provided by the west to ukraine are second-hand and have been in service for decades. therefore, fighter jet maintenance is particularly important for ukraine.without maintenance services, ukraine will have a hard time keeping these western-supplied aircraft operational。

the ukrainian ministry of defense has set up a special committee to investigate the cause of the crash. potential causes under investigation include pilot error and technical failure. the ukrainian military stressed that the fighter jet "was not hit by an enemy missile."

there are also reports that the f-16 fighter jet was shot down by the "patriot" anti-missile system provided by the united states to ukraine, which was a "friendly fire" caused by lack of coordination between departments.