The F-16 coalition will develop according to the “tank” principle – Ukrainian Defense Ministry
There is no need to wait until the Vilnius summit for an announcement on the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Kyiv.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov stated this at a press conference, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The main thing is that by July a program for this training (for pilots and other personnel for the F-16 - ed.) must be prepared and approved, and the status of creating a training center for us in one of the countries will be clear. I can guess which one, but I won’t reveal it yet, because they asked, they want to publicly announce it later, and this will be done exactly before the Vilnius summit. The training center is specifically for Ukraine, everything will be there - simulators, equipment, and so on. At the same time, English language courses will be held for our pilots and engineers,” the minister said.
He explained that engineers and technicians would be more difficult to train than pilots because the highly complex system requires constant communication.
“This is a serious project, we will understand the program, accordingly, we will know the deadlines, and other countries, understanding this, will be ready to announce directly about the aircraft, which we will gradually then receive from partner countries that will be part of this coalition,” added minister
He also said that before the Vilnius summit one should not expect specific statements on the supply of aircraft.
“Before the summit there will be an announcement about the fact of the start at a specific training location, and who the participants are. Today the Netherlands, Denmark with US support. And then countries will look at their capabilities and gradually, those who are ready will transfer and take part in the creation of a [coalition], as was the case with tanks. There was the leadership of Poland and Germany in “Leopards”, and this leadership already pulled up the “leopard coalition,” explained Reznikov.