“F-16 pilot training has already started” – Ukraine’s defense minister

Ukrainian pilots, engineers, and ground technicians have already started training on F-16 fighter jets, says Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

Reznikov also emphasized that the instructors will report the completion of these exercises when they see how Ukrainian crews use new skills and interact with each other.

This time of preparation in the form of training will be spent on continuing the project to understand when we will have the aircraft in place, Reznikov said.

The whole training campaign will take six months to complete, the minister concluded.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Swedish-made Gripen aircraft test flights have already started.

Ukraine and Sweden discussed the steps for the possible acquisition of these aircraft by Ukraine. The president will discuss this with the political forces in the Swedish Parliament.

The issue of providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets was previously brought up at a Ramstein defense-related summit in June.

After the meeting, Ukraine's partners pledged to approve a training program for the pilots, engineers, and technicians on F-16 fighter jets, with the training taking place in a specially created center in a European country.

The prime ministers of the Netherlands and Great Britain, Mark Rutte and Rishi Sunak, agreed to work on forming an international coalition of fighter jets for Ukraine. Denmark announced it had joined the coalition too.

The US has approved the transfer of training equipment for F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine at Denmark's request, which should bring the start of training for pilots on these aircraft closer.

The Netherlands and Denmark have greenlighted the delivery of F-16 fighters to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots complete their training.