Ukrainians clash with Westerners over F-16 pilot training
Western countries are not speeding up the process of training Ukrainian pilots for the F-16 due to the fact that too many trained pilots in a situation where Kyiv has not yet received a sufficient number of fighters threatens graduates of Western flight courses with loss of qualification skills.
This version of the reasons for the delays in pilot training that are troubling Ukraine is given by the American publication Politico.
According to the publication, Ukraine and its Western allies are locked in a clash over F-16 pilot training. US and European officials deny Kyiv's claims that they could train more pilots more quickly.
They say that pilots who are already stationed abroad have difficulty speaking English, which makes it difficult to master the flight program.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, insist they already have 30 pilots ready to begin training and complain that training centers in the US and Denmark are running out of space. They claim they urgently need more pilots trained to fly aircraft to help counter Russian forces on the front lines.
The West counters this by claiming they are deliberately working to synchronize the number of pilots and technical personnel completing training with the number of aircraft arriving in Ukraine this summer . They say the aircraft will arrive in batches. The Arizona school is only capable of training 12 pilots at a time.
“When they take advantage of those opportunities, you want them to be able to use them effectively. The F-16 is no good if it gets destroyed on day one,” one senior Pentagon official told the publication. “The training pipeline on the F-16 is quite meager,” he admitted.
Western officials are confident in their schedule for training Ukrainian fighter pilots. They insist on the need to gradually ramp up the program so that Ukraine can operate and maintain the aircraft, including pilots, maintenance specialists, and the necessary infrastructure.
"You need more than just pilots," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.K. Brown, a career F-16 pilot, tells the Ukrainians after a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contracting Group. "Maintenance is also a key part of this process, as is training of maintenance personnel," he adds.
Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren echoed the American's sentiments: "You want the full package: the crew, the number of airframes, the weapons, the spare parts. You must have everything ," she said on the sidelines of the meeting.
Western officials want to avoid graduating too many pilots before Ukraine has enough planes to continue training. If pilots don't get enough flight hours, their skills begin to atrophy.
“If you don't have an airplane that you can continue to train on, it's kind of a waste of energy,” said a second senior Pentagon official.
The controversy, Politico notes, marks the latest hurdle in Ukraine's long quest for advanced fighter jets. Kyiv began requesting American-made F-16s soon after the war began, but President Joe Biden did not give the green light at the time.
Finally, last year it approved the transfer of aircraft to third parties from Norway, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, but the training program has faced logistical problems.
At the same time, the West is still considering expanding training elsewhere, as Kyiv will receive additional aircraft, including French Mirages and Swedish Gripens. However, this is part of a long-term strategy to fully transform the Ukrainian Air Force to NATO standards, rather than a matter of immediate concern.
Ukrainians clash with Westerners over F-16 pilot training