The Ukrainian Air Force has confirmed that two Ukrainian pilots are currently on the territory of the United States.

Yuriy Ihnat, spokesman of the Ukrainian Air Force, stated this to the Ukrainian service of the Voice of America.

According to his information, Ukrainians are establishing communication with American specialists to evaluate the possibility of future training. The US representatives will be able to assess the level of knowledge and training of Ukrainian pilots and draw conclusions regarding future training programs.

In particular, after the work of the Ukrainian delegation, it will become clear how long it could take pilots to master the American fighter jets.

“A decision will be made about that other type of aircraft – then we will already know how many pilots are needed and where to send them for this training. So far, the American side is studying the capabilities of our pilots, how much time they will need to retrain for modern fighters,” Ihnat said.

The Ukrainian Air Force spokesman added that the training of ground personnel was no less important than the training of pilots. “This is a very important point, because one aircraft is serviced by 10, or even more – dozens, let’s say, specialists who operate it every day, maintain and look after all systems,” emphasizes the Ukrainian Air Force official.

It should be recalled that on March 5, NBC NEWS reported that two Ukrainian pilots were training on simulators at a U.S. military base in Tucson, Arizona. According to open data, the Davis-Monthan air base of the US Air Force is located there. So is the US Air Force Materiel Command, which is responsible for maintaining surplus military and government aircraft assets.

According to Yuriy Ihnat and American media sources, there have been no changes in the policy of the US government regarding the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine. The visit of Ukrainian pilots does not mean that Washington has already decided to transfer the F-16s to Kyiv.