The first group of six Ukrainian pilots will complete training on F-16 fighters no earlier than next summer.
This was reported by the American newspaper The Washington Post with reference to sources in the government of Ukraine and the defense sector.
Although pilots are already fluent in English, they must first complete a four-month English course in the UK to learn aircraft terminology. The ground staff will also be trained, because Denmark has asked to train the entire crew, not just the pilots.
According to Ukrainian politicians, this postpones the start of combat training, which will last six months, until January. A second group of approximately the same number will be ready in half a year or by the end of next year. "Itʼs called delaying," one Ukrainian official noted.
Another 20 Ukrainian pilots are ready to train in England, US officials said, adding that most of Ukraineʼs best pilots will remain in Ukraine, where they will fly combat missions in Soviet-designed aircraft and launch French SCALP missiles and British Storm Shadow missiles.
Brigadier General Serhii Golubtsov of the Air Force of Ukraine told The Washington Post that Ukrainian pilots have been attending online English language courses for the past year in between flights. "Flight and ground personnel will be given additional specialized training on the terminology necessary to master the F-16," Holubtsov stated.
An official representative of Great Britain said that the British government offered to train Ukrainian pilots on Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, but Kyiv preferred to use the F-16.
- Denmark and the Netherlands will be the first countries to start training pilots. On August 5, it became known that the Ukrainian Air Force has identified the first group of 8 pilots who will train on F-16 fighters. They speak English fluently and are ready to join the work as soon as the official training plan is ready. Another 20 pilots are preparing for language courses in Britain, which will start this month. In total, 32 pilots were selected to participate in the program. This amount is enough to create two squadrons.
- The official training plan has not yet been approved. On July 1, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the partners were delaying the training schedule of Ukrainian pilots.