The United States of America has allowed its allies to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, and they themselves will train Ukrainian pilots to use them. The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin contributed to this decision in Washington.
The Washington Post (WP) and The New York Times (NYT) write about it.
According to American officials, Anthony Blinken was the main lobbyist in the presidential administration regarding the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv. He actively worked with NATO allies to promote this solution. The State Secretary took the same position on the issue of supplying Ukraine with modern tanks. The Washington Post notes that it was he who "pushed" the White House to transfer the M1 Abrams tanks.
Meanwhile, Lloyd Austin insisted that American officials support a plan by European allies to transfer Western aircraft to Ukraine. This happened after the US Defense Minister met with colleagues from 50 countries in the Rammstein format on April 21.
The NYT writes that then Austin returned to Washington and told senior officials of the Biden administration about the need to change the position on the training of Ukrainian pilots and at least allow other countries to transfer planes to Ukraine.
The head of the Pentagon secured the unanimous support of the national security representatives of the Biden administration and before the summit of the "Big Seven" (G7) officially recommended the US president to make a positive decision about the F-16 for Ukraine.
- 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 coming 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.
- On May 23, the Pentagon informed about that the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will begin in at least a few months. And this is based on an optimistic scenario. However, this is quite a short period of time, as it usually takes more than 2 years to train a new American pilot to operate such an aircraft.