The Netherlands and Romania signed a letter of intent with Lockheed Martin to provide training and maintenance of F-16s at a Romanian training center.

Kajsa Ollongren, Minister of Defense of the Netherlands, reported on this.

“This is a concrete step toward strengthening Ukraine’s air defense by two European countries and, of course, all the other countries in the F16 coalition,” said Ollongren.

According to her, the discussion at the informal council of defense ministers will begin with Ukraine.

“It is extremely important for the Netherlands to continue to demonstrate our unity in supporting Ukraine in countering Russian aggression,” the minister said.

Lockheed Martin will provide the highest level of technical assistance through flight instructors and personnel.

“Through this center, Romania is committed to providing a high quality training environment with access to technical resources and state-of-the-art know-how not only for Romanian pilots, but also for pilots from Allied and partner countries, including Ukraine,” said Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr.

In July 2023, it was reported that Romania would set up a regional F-16 pilots’ training center. Ukrainian pilots will also be able to train there.

Thus, Romania will join the “aviation coalition” that supports the training of Ukrainian pilots and personnel, as well as the transfer of modern multirole fighters as part of military assistance.

The center will be created jointly with other allies and Lockheed Martin, which is the manufacturer of these fighter jets. It will meet the training requirements of NATO.

The U.S. Department of Defense plans to begin training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in the United States.

The pilots will first take an English language course in Texas, and then they will start months of training in Arizona.