According to the Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukrainian pilots have already started training on American F-16 fighter jets. The training process is expected to last approximately 6 months.
Source: “24 Channel”.
What is known about the start of training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s
The Minister of Defense declined to disclose the details of the training, stating that 11 partner countries have joined the coalition for conducting training for Ukrainian pilots and the transfer of fighter jets in the future.
“The completion of these training sessions will be communicated by the instructors when they see how Ukrainian specialists assimilate new skills and interact with each other. This training period will be spent in the form of learning to continue the project of understanding when we will have the aircraft directly. And most importantly, how many,” Reznikov said.
The Minister of Defense explained that any country willing to transfer American fighter jets to Ukraine will need to obtain the appropriate permission from the United States.
When will the Ukrainian Armed Forces be able to acquire F-16s?
According to him, the timeframe for when the Ukrainian Armed Forces will deploy F-16 fighter jets remains open, but the minimum pilot training period is six months.
“Some might be able to do it faster. People are talented. But to avoid illusions, it might happen that a portion of pilots will be ready in 5 months, while engineers and technicians won’t be ready. And an aircraft is a very complex system. One pilot is not enough,” emphasized Reznikov.
He noted that the aircraft won’t be able to perform combat tasks without a dedicated team assigned to it, but the timelines for preparing engineers and technicians are unknown.
“To meet reasonable expectations, a minimum of 6 months is required. But don’t be disappointed if it takes longer,” cautioned Reznikov.