Training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 starts in Romania

Romanian defence minister Angel Tilvar and his Dutch counterpart, Kajsa Ollongren, are set to open the European F-16 fighter training centre at the Fătesti Air Force Base in Romania, where Ukrainian pilots will be trained, DW reports.

The pilots' training at the centre, which is located 150 km east of Bucharest, is estimated to last six months and will begin today.

Lockheed Martin, a US manufacturer of the F-16 combat aircraft, has provided instructors and technical staff for the training.

The Netherlands will donate 12 fighter jets to train both Ukrainian and Romanian pilots, with the first five arriving this week.

In August, Denmark announced that it will provide 19 aircraft to Ukraine, and the Netherlands an unknown number (the country has 42 aircraft; it is not said how many will be given to the Armed Forces).

That month, the defence ministers of the Netherlands and Romania signed an agreement to establish a training centre to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s.

On 10 November, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said that some pilots are already undergoing training in the sky with an instructor on combat aircraft.