Eight European countries have already joined the "coalition of fighters". They will help train Ukrainian pilots and are ready to hand over planes.
The deputy chairman of the Presidentʼs Office (PO), wrote about this on his Facebook page.
According to him, the agreements reached allow us to count on specific decisions regarding the scope and mechanism of training pilots and other personnel. In addition, now the "coalition" is not limited to only F-16 fighters.
"The basis of the European part of the Coalition has been formed with the participation of eight countries (soon there will be more): Great Britain, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Portugal and France," he noted.
- Denmark and the Netherlands headed the European group for training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16. They will be the first countries to begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, other countries will join later.
- 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 four months, instead of 18, as previously planned.
- On May 23, the Pentagon informed 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 two years to train a new American pilot to operate such an aircraft.
- F-16 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 Yuriy Sak said that Ukraine wants to receive 40 to 50 F-16 fighters to form three or four squadrons.