A US official told The New York Times on Thursday that the Pentagon will start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets in the US. The training might begin as soon as September.
Similar training is already happening in the Netherlands and Denmark. However, Kiev has expressed frustration because the program has been slow to start and only involves six Ukrainian pilots. As a result, the timeline for Ukraine to use the US-made jets in combat has been pushed back. Initial estimates aimed for next summer, but now it might not happen until the end of 2024.
A Pentagon spokesperson mentioned a few days ago, on Monday, "[We’re] open to training existing pilots if capacity is reached in Europe."
"That’s the condition. So, if Denmark and the Netherlands are taking the lead on training, if they just do not have the capacity... to train as many pilots as Ukraine wants to send or plans to send, then we will... help train stateside," the earlier statement added.
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