Ukraine forms coalition to train F-16 pilots with 11 countries
Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. Photo by Rubryka
Ukraine formed a coalition of 11 partner states to train F-16 fighter pilots.
Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov reported on his Twitter that the coalition includes Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Britain, and Sweden.
It's official: a coalition for F-16 training of the Ukrainian Air Force has been formed!
Today, 11 partner states + Ukraine signed a Memorandum outlining the terms. I'm especially grateful to Denmark and the Netherlands for their outstanding leadership in this process.… pic.twitter.com/ea1oxljX9I— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) July 11, 2023
The memorandum provides that Ukrainian pilots, technicians, and support staff will participate in the training program, and other types of fighters may be included.
Acting Minister of Defense of Denmark Troels Poulsen said the coalition would start training Ukrainian pilots at the end of summer.
In turn, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Great Britain, Vadym Prystaiko, specified that the training for the first 20 pilots would begin at the end of July or the beginning of August.
Reuters reports that the coalition will begin training Ukrainian fighter pilots in Denmark. "Hopefully, we will be able to see the results early next year," said Troels Poulsen.
"We have to protect our civilian population, our infrastructure, critical facilities, our schools, our universities," Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov told journalists at the NATO Summit in Vilnius on Wednesday. "That is why it is very important for us that this fighter coalition starts. I hope — I am an optimist — that in six months, we will see results."
On July 1, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Western partners are delaying the preparation of the schedule for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets. So far, no country has committed to sending F-16 to Ukraine.
What we know about Ukrainian pilots training on F-16 fighters
The issue of providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets was discussed during the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein format) in June.
After it, it became known that by July, the partners of Ukraine plan to approve the training program for Ukrainian pilots, engineers, and technicians on F-16 fighter jets; the training will take place in a specially created center in one of the European countries.
According to Politico, Western F-16 fighter jets may be transferred to Ukraine in early 2024.
Earlier, the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Great Britain agreed to work on forming an international coalition of fighter jets for Ukraine. Denmark joined them.
In early June, Air Force spokesman Colonel Yurii Ihnat announced that Kyiv had selected the first groups of Ukrainian pilots for training in Britain.
On July 6, the Supreme Council of National Defense of Romania (CSAT) discussed creating a pilot training center to operate F-16 fighter jets, which NATO members and allied countries can use.
