The Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has not yet confirmed the information about the start of training Ukrainian pilots to work on F-16 fighters. It was noted there that people are currently being trained for such training.
The spokesman of the Air Force Yurii Ignat told about this on the air of the telethon.
"The process of preparing people to start this training is underway. There are advanced groups that have gone to European countries that can provide us with training sites. It is being studied how this process will take place, etc. The pilots themselves, who are already piloting, are not yet there," he explained.
According to him, the very fact of the formation of the "aviation coalition" is extraordinary news. Some countries will train pilots, and some are ready to hand over planes. Ignat emphasizes that the decision to transfer the planes to Ukraine has already been made. Now there are technical points and processes.
The Air Force spokesman said that all the details are now being studied: when and which groups will go to training in certain countries, how long the process will take, etc.
- F-16 fighters will be delivered to Ukraine in units, not individually. At the initial stage, several dozen of these aircraft may be transferred. Earlier, the adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Yurii Sak said that Ukraine wants to receive 40 to 50 F-16 fighters to form three or four squadrons.
- On May 16, Britain informed about the start of an international coalition of countries that will train Ukrainian pilots to fly fourth-generation Western fighter jets, including the F-16. The coalition included the USA, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Portugal. Pilot training will begin in the coming months.
- On May 20, the White House confirmed that in the following months, the US and its allies will discuss when and how many fighter jets Ukraine will receive. The US agreed to the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine.
- On May 21, the US President Joe Biden confirmed that the United States will begin training Ukrainian pilots in the near future. The American report says that two Ukrainian aces on F-16 simulators 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, instead of 18, as previously planned.