Ukraine asks allies to step up training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s – Politico
Ukrainian officials are demanding that the United States and other allies speed up the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, which will soon arrive in Ukraine, Politico reported with reference to three unnamed sources who are familiar with Kyiv's request.
"Ukraine says it has 30 pilots who are eligible to start training in the U.S. immediately. Yet the Biden administration has told Kyiv it lacks the school seats in its Arizona-based program to accept more than 12 pilot trainees at a time," the agency writes.
Journalists note that two other bases in Denmark and Romania have a similar problem with available places for training Ukrainian pilots.
During a series of meetings and calls over the past few weeks, Ukraine has officially asked the United States to train additional pilots at a base in the state of Arizona. However, Washington said that in addition to limited space, other countries expect F-16 fighter pilot training at the base and that Washington cannot violate its obligations to these countries.
"We have developed and are implementing a training plan that meets forecasted aircraft fielding timelines, which are ultimately shaped by a number of factors, including maintenance and sustainment needs, infrastructure and support equipment requirements, and aircraft sourcing timelines, as well as pilot throughput," said the official representative of the Pentagon, Major Charlie Dietz.
A spokesperson of the US Arizona National Guard, Erin Hannigan, confirmed that the number of places in the program is limited due to obligations to meet requests for training of military personnel of other countries.
Citing a former official of the Ministry of Defense who participates in the program, Politico writes that eight more Ukrainian pilots are undergoing training in Denmark. But the facility is slated to close in 2025 and no longer participate in training as Denmark transitions to F-35s.
F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin and its subcontractor Draken are also preparing to train pilots at a base in Romania, but this program is expensive and the number of places will be limited, journalists write. By the end of this year, 20 Ukrainian F-16 pilots are expected to graduate – half of the 40 required to fly a full squadron of 20 jets, Politico notes.
On May 7, Air Force spokesman Illya Yevlash said that Ukrainian pilots, together with engineers, continue training on F-16 fighters on a permanent basis.
By May 24, the first group of combat pilots from Ukraine completed training on F-16 fighters, which took place in the United States.
