The US can train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 in four months instead of 18. This assessment was given by the Pentagon after two Ukrainian pilots passed a two-week test on flight simulators.
Yahoo News writes about it with reference to the American report.
The document contains a detailed evaluation of the tests of two Ukrainian pilots at an air base in the state of Arizona. Ukraine sent two pilots — MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters. Before that, they had no F-16 training, just a brief introduction. After that, nine sessions were held on flight simulators with a total duration of 11.5 hours.
Both Ukrainian pilots were evaluated by four experienced US Air Force instructors, each of whom had flown thousands of hours in the F-16. They concluded that the Ukrainians were able to perform a number of "technical maneuvers", including landing the plane after an engine failure. In addition, the pilots were able to perform simulated attacks based on the given parameters.
Instructors consider the complex avionics of the F-16 in English a major challenge. But they say that within two weeks, both pilots had a "significant improvement in their English." Also, the pilots were not familiar with the flights of standard groups of US aircraft, as they were trained according to Soviet-era tactics.
Despite these shortcomings, the reportʼs conclusion states that "given the skill set demonstrated by the Ukrainian Air Force," four months to master F-16 aircraft is a very realistic training period.