West considers extended training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots – WSJ

The participants of the fighter jet coalition who facilitate the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and the supply of these aircraft, are discussing how to satisfy Kyiv’s need for a bigger number of pilots.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the training of the Ukrainian pilots on F-16s was a complicated process carried out in several countries, and Kyiv privately stressed the necessity to extend this training to facilitate future maintenance of the F-16s received by Ukraine.

Western and American officials stated in a conversation with WSJ that a significant limiting factor here is the number of Ukrainian pilots ready to start training.

"Still, the US is looking into whether it can expand the training in America, either at the existing Arizona facility or potentially by allowing Ukrainian pilots to use another US air base," WSJ reports.

The possibility of the EU countries sending contractors for the maintenance of the F-16s is also being discussed.

At the moment it is planned that trained Ukrainian professionals will do this in Ukraine but, as explained by a Pentagon official, some maintenance works, such as checking the engine operation, will have to be carried out abroad at least in the early stages.

On 10 July the leaders of the US, Denmark and the Netherlands Joe Biden, Mette Frederiksen and Dick Schoof, who lead the fighter jets coalition, confirmed that Ukraine would receive the first F-16s during the summer.

Bloomberg reports that Ukraine expects to receive 6 F-16 fighter jets this summer and up to 20 jets in total from its Western partners by the end of 2024.