Belgium is ready to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16

Belgium is ready to train Ukrainian pilots to fly American F-16 fighters. But he cannot transfer such planes on his own yet.

DeMorgen writes about it.

The office of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that the F-16 issue was discussed at the summit in The Hague, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyi met with the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands.

"We said we canʼt deliver planes, but we can train pilots," they explained.

The Belgian Air Force has experience using the F-16 since the late 1970s. Therefore, they can train Ukrainian pilots without problems, but there are problems with the transfer of aircraft, since all Belgian F-16s are in service. They cover the airspace of the Benelux and Baltic countries. Therefore, Belgium cannot simply remove them from this task.

• In the summer, Great Britain will begin basic training of Ukrainian pilots to fly Western aircraft. There, they want to adapt the program that pilots of the Royal Armed Forces are trained by, for pilots from Ukraine, so that they can fly on Western models of aviation.
• Ukraine is asking its allies for Western-made multirole fighter jets, such as the F-15, F-16 and F-18. The partners have so far only agreed to train Ukrainian pilots, in particular , Britain, Poland and three other countries have promised to do so. Discussions about preparations for the transfer of Western aircraft are ongoing.
• In April, Denmarkʼs defense minister suggested that the allies would decide whether to transfer Western fighter jets to Ukraine by this summer.