According to Ukrainian media, the country will receive a total of 42 F-16s. This was announced by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Today we are taking another step to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense. F-16. Aircraft that we will use to keep Russian terrorists away from Ukrainian cities and villages,” the President said. Thus, this number of F-16s will be enough to create 3 squadrons, 14 each. It is unclear how many planes each country in the 11-nation alliance will provide.
According to US Air Force General James Hecker, the F-16 will not be the panacea to turn the tide on the battlefield. The personnel issue is the biggest obstacle for the Ukrainian air force. Training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 can take up to five years. According to Hecker, US aircraft will not be able to radically affect the battlefield situation, they can provide short-term support but will not become a lifeline for Kyiv.
According to Hecker, the fighter is not one of those weapons systems that can be mastered overnight. Some weapon systems can be mastered fairly quickly. But the likes of the F-16 take time. So, it may take four or five years to form a pair of F-16 squadrons and ensure that they are sufficiently ready and professional.
Previously, the US approved the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine when taken from the Dutch and Danish Air Force, the fighters will be delivered no earlier than next summer. The training of Ukrainian pilots will also take about a year.
Another issue to keep in mind is that language is another barrier for the pilots of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as they prepare to train on the F-16. It turned out that of the 32 Ukrainian pilots selected, which should have been enough to form two squadrons, only eight were relatively fluent in English.
As soon as the training plan is officially approved, they will begin a theoretical and practical course on aircraft control. But another problem is that the program hasn’t even been drafted. Currently 20 other Ukrainian pilots are preparing for a language course in the UK, scheduled to start in August, only then will they be allowed to board. In addition, the status of the remaining 4 pilots among the selected is also unclear.
Denmark has officially confirmed the transfer of 19 F-16 multirole fighter jets to Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense of Denmark has informed about this. She added that the first 6 fighters will fly from Denmark to Ukraine closer to the New Year. The Royal Danish Air Force is known to have 30 F-16s of the F-16AM variant.
Soucre: military-wiki.com
