According to The New York Times, 12 Ukrainian pilots will be ready to pilot F-16 fighters in combat conditions as early as July 2024.
Ukraine will receive the first F-16s in the summer of 2024
A de facto entire squadron of Ukrainian pilots will be ready for F-16 combat flights this summer after ten months of training in Denmark, Great Britain and the United States.
Despite this, as the journalists managed to find out, at the time of their return to Ukraine, the Armed Forces will receive only six F-16s out of about 45 fighters promised by Kyiv's partners.
Currently, fighter jets and instructor pilots are waiting for Ukrainian pilots at the new training center at the Fetesti Air Base in southern Romania, which should play a crucial role in the training of Ukrainians. But it is still unclear when Ukrainian pilots will start training at this center.
NYT draws attention to the fact that Ukrainian pilots manage to learn to fly Western fighter jets as quickly as possible.
It is important to understand that years of training are compressed into a few months.
However, the process was still not as fast as Ukraine wanted because the pilots had to master the English language and Western military practice.
How will the F-16 be maintained?
What is essential to understand is that there is also a need for fighter aircraft maintenance personnel.
According to the latest data, about 50 Ukrainian technicians are being trained in Denmark to support and repair aircraft and work with weapons kits.
Experts point out that the F-16s are so complex that each requires 8 to 14 people to maintain.
Officials said Western defence contractors would have to escort the planes to Ukraine and stay with them until there were enough Ukrainian aircrews to properly service them, a process that could take years.
