Politico: Ukrainian pilots will start training for F-16 fighter jets next week in the US

Next week, Ukrainian pilots will begin training for F-16 fighter jets at the US Air Force base in Tucson (Arizona).

This was reported by Politico with reference to four American officials.

A small number of pilots who arrived in the U.S. last month at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas for English language courses have passed their first English proficiency test and are on their way to Morris Air National Guard Air Force Base in Arizona. There, they will train at the 162nd Airlift Wing, the main F-16 training center of the US Air Force.

Pilots will first learn the basics of flying the F-16 in the classroom and on simulators before moving on to flying the fighters. However, this process can be accelerated due to the urgent need to return pilots to the battlefield, one of the officials said.

• So far, 11 countries have agreed to help train pilots, with the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium providing aircraft. Ukrainian pilots studying in Europe are already training on F-16 aerobatic simulators, the official representative of the Air Force of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat said earlier this month. The next stage is flying with an instructor on airplanes.