Pentagon Plans to Begin Training Ukrainian Pilots on F-16s in U.S.

The Pentagon plans to start coaching Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets within the United States as early as September, a U.S. official mentioned on Thursday.

Defense Department officers mentioned final week that Ukrainian pilots could be educated within the United States if a European coalition effort to coach dozens of pilots, led by the Netherlands and Denmark, reached capability. But the method is now altering to additionally convey Ukrainian pilots for coaching within the United States as quickly as Ukraine identifies them.

It was unclear whether or not the United States would prepare pilots initially destined for European coaching applications or this could be a further group.

The resolution was anticipated to be introduced on Thursday afternoon, timed to Ukraine’s Independence Day.

But, will probably be months but, at the very least, earlier than the F-16s are despatched to battle. It was solely final Thursday that an American official mentioned that the Biden administration would permit allies to ship the American-designed jets to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s protection minister, Oleksii Reznikov, predicted earlier this week that it could take six to seven months earlier than F-16s had been despatched to Ukraine, following coaching for the nation’s pilots and obligatory assist workers. That means the planes won’t play a job in Ukraine’s present counteroffensive.

The pilots will first obtain English language coaching in Texas after which start months of flight coaching in Arizona, mentioned the U.S. official who addressed the problem on Thursday, talking on situation of anonymity to debate future coaching plans.

A small variety of Ukrainian pilots had obtained coaching within the United States previous to a call by President Biden in May to permit European international locations with U.S.-made F-16s to coach Ukrainian aviators.

This previous winter, the U.S. Air Force hosted two Ukrainian pilots who had flown Soviet-era jets to see how they might fare on the F-16. In an evaluation dated March 22, Air Force officers concluded that at the very least some Ukrainian pilots might be educated to fly the F-16 in 4 to 5 months.

The evaluation was based mostly on a 12-day analysis of the 2 Ukrainian pilots who underwent flight simulations on the Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Ariz., over the winter. It discovered that the 2 pilots nonetheless wanted sure technical expertise, together with understanding the Western cockpit’s devices and changing into snug flying in American-standard formation with different plane.

Norway mentioned on Thursday that it could donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, in what would make it the third NATO nation to take action after the Netherlands and Denmark. And Portugal mentioned it additionally would prepare Ukrainian pilots and engineers to fly or preserve the F-16s.

With the brand new dedication, President Volodymyr Zelensky has estimated that Ukraine would obtain at the very least 61 F-16s — sufficient for as many as 4 squadrons.