U.S. Ready to Begin Training Ukraine F-16 Fighter Pilots, Support Crew

The Pentagon announced Thursday it is ready to train Ukrainian aircrew to fly F-16 fighter jets at a National Guard base in Arizona as soon as this October.

The U.S. last week cleared other nations to donate the American made jets to Ukraine – despite initial fears the move may antagonize Moscow.

Several countries including the Netherlands and Denmark quickly responded and the Pentagon has indicated it will train the aircrew to enable the Ukraine to take the sophisticated warplanes into combat with Russia.

NATO-member Norway has also indicated it is ready to join the program.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken flagged the United States’ intentions to approve the third-party transfer of the U.S.-made F-16s to Ukraine in a letter to his European counterparts.

Now that has been followed by a commitment to training based on U.S. soil using local facilities and trainers.

“The training provided by the United States will complement the F-16 pilot and maintenance training that’s already underway in Europe and further deepens our support of the F-16 training coalition led by Denmark and the Netherlands,” Ryder said. “Moving forward we will remain in close consultation with the Danes, the Dutch and other allies to ensure U.S. training complements the broader coalition training efforts.”

Ryder added by announcing the training, the U.S. is preempting any training capacity constraints in Denmark and the Netherlands’ training pipeline to ensure the aircraft are fielded to Ukraine as quickly as possible.

A clearly delighted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) reacts as he sits in a F-16 fighter jet in the hangar of the Skrydstrup Airbase in Vojens, northern Denmark, on August 20, 2023. (MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

He added Ukraine will ultimately determine the number of pilots that will require the training.

Ryder said the complete training pipeline would likely take several months, depending upon the pilots’ proficiency coming into the course.

“Part of this training will be assessing the individual pilots’ skill level, which will determine help to determine how long that training will last,” he said.

“Your basic, new F-16 pilot with not a lot of training on the U.S. side, that training typically lasts about eight months.”

That training includes a series of courses ranging from basic flight training to instruction on fighter fundamentals, weapons employment, combat maneuvering and tactical intercepts among other concepts.

He said training for more experienced pilots could be completed in about five months.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (C) and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte (R) pose for a selfie in front of F-16 jets during their visit to he Royal Netherlands Air Force base in Eindhoven, Netherlands on August 20, 2023. (President Zelensky’s Instagram/Anadolu Agency via Getty)

Beyond flight training, Ryder said the F-16s require significant logistics and maintenance training for ground support personnel that ensures the aircrafts remain combat capable.

English language training will also be provided to the Ukraine air crew and their ground support staff at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas beginning in September.

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