F-16: US outlined conditions under which it will join the training of Ukrainian pilots

The United States has named the conditions under which it will join a program to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.

The Pentagon shared that it is ready to train Ukrainian pilots if European countries do not keep up with the training process.

Sabrina Singh, Pentagon’s Deputy Press Secretary, made this statement.

“The USA is open to training Ukrainian pilots if capacity is reached in Europe. So, if Denmark and the Netherlands are taking the lead on training if they just do not have the capacity … to train as many pilots as Ukraine wants to send or plans to send, then we will … help train stateside,” Singh shared.

She added that the total number of pilots who would need to be trained on F-16s will be determined by Ukraine.

The Pentagon also noted that the Ukrainian pilots will need to go through significant English language training to be ready to fly the F-16, and that will take some time.

In August, John Kirby, US Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, noted that the US is ready to train Ukrainian pilots on its territory if necessary.

Militarnyi reported that on August 20, the Netherlands and Denmark announced their decision to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. According to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the Netherlands will provide 42 fighter jets to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Denmark has officially confirmed the transfer of 19 F-16 multirole fighter jets to Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots and engineers have already started learning how to use these fighter jets. The first 6 fighters will fly from Denmark to Ukraine closer to the New Year.

Greece will participate in training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated this at a press conference with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece, on Monday, August 21.

Thus, Greece has joined an aviation coalition in which some countries provide fighter jets to Ukraine while others train its pilots and technicians.