US President Joe Biden told the leaders of the G7 countries that the US is not against training Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16. They are ready to support the efforts of allies in this direction.
CNN writes about this with reference to officials of the US Presidentʼs administration.
According to them, training will most likely take place entirely in Europe. But American instructors will attend them. The training is expected to last for several months and will begin in the "coming weeks".
"As the training takes place over the coming months, our coalition of countries participating in this effort will decide when to actually provide jets, how many we will provide, and who will provide them," the official said.
In the US, they say that the allies are now focused on preparing Ukraine for a future counteroffensive and transferring a sufficient number of weapons.
Some European countries have American-made F-16s, but they will need US permission to transfer them to Ukraine.
- The Netherlands and Great Britain plan to lead a "coalition of fighter jets" so that Ukraine receives Western aircraft. The office of the British Prime Minister said that Rishi Sunak and Mark Rutte "will work to create an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat aircraft, providing support in everything from training to the purchase of F-16 aircraft."
- 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. According to the American report, two Ukrainian aces on simulators of F-16 fighters exceeded the expectations of the United States. There they believe that they will be able to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 in 4 months, not 18, as it should be.
- 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.