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It takes less than half the time — just four to six months — to train Ukrainian fighter pilots to fly American-made F-16 fighter jets as the Biden administration allows.
The assessment, from internal documents of the US Air Force and a former NATO commander, may be for only a few pilots at a time, and applies only to those with the most recent flying experience in Ukraine’s Soviet-era jet fleet. But that means Ukraine could have one of the remaining advanced weapons it says it needs to deter Russia sooner than imagined.
For more than a year, the United States has refused to give Ukraine fighter jets, which the Biden administration fears could be used to attack Russian territory. The government changed its stance last week, saying it supports the exercise.
But while President Biden made it clear that he would allow the jets to be sent to Ukraine, he would not predict when they would be delivered. He called it “unlikely” that he would be part of the counterattack that Ukraine will launch in a few weeks. American officials say the aircraft will help Ukraine defend itself against Russia in the long term.
Training Ukrainian pilots is the first step necessary for the country to begin receiving jets capable of defeating other fighter jets, while also carrying nearly every bomb or missile in the US Air Force’s arsenal.
On Tuesday, Poland said it was ready to train Ukrainian pilots. It will join a coalition formed by Britain and the Netherlands to supply F-16s to Kyiv, but Poland may be able to draw on better comparative experience: Its forces have transitioned to F-16s from Soviet jets, and Poland can find them. it is easier to communicate with fellow Slavic-speakers on the border.
Here’s a look at how the training can unfold.
How long will the training take?
An internal Air Force assessment, dated March 22, concluded that at least some Ukrainian pilots could be trained to fly the F-16 within four to five months.
The assessment, first reported by Yahoo News, and verified on Monday by an Air Force spokesman, is based on a 12-day evaluation of two Ukrainian Air Force officers who underwent a flight simulation at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Ariz. ., over the winter.
The report found that the two pilots still need certain technical skills, including understanding Western cockpit instruments and becoming comfortable flying in standard American formations with other aircraft.
In one projection, which includes time for specialized English lessons, about four pilots will be in each class, with between 12 and 14 pilots completing training in 12 months. The assessment was shared with seven NATO countries, including Poland, which have flown the F-16. Also given to Bulgaria and England.
But it doesn’t specify whether pilots will pass “combat readiness” — a term that Philip M. Breedlove, a retired U.S. Air Force general who is a former NATO commander and F-16 trainer, says is the necessary baseline to determine how long it will take. training will take.
If the pilots have recently and regularly fly over Ukraine, they will likely need four to six months of training, General Breedlove said. On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said he would move on with some of the most experienced pilots “to speed up the training process.”
Should Ukrainian pilots learn?
General Breedlove, who flew F-16s for about 60 percent of his military career, including combat missions in Kosovo, said there were two main differences between the fighter jet and the Soviet-era aircraft that make up most of Ukraine’s fleet.
“The biggest change we’re going to see is the cockpit,” he said, meaning how pilots use sensors, control panels and weapons systems. Most of the older Soviet jets, he said, required the pilot “to reach and turn and change and switch — and all those things take your concentration away from fighting other planes, or even dropping bombs.”
The electrical impulses that are part of the F-16’s more advanced technology allow for easier control of the flight system, which means the way the cockpit is set up differently.
Another difference is the “hands-on throttle and stick” or “HOTAS” technology, a system that includes a dogfight override switch that allows F-16 pilots to switch from bombing targets on the ground to engaging in air-to-air combat without taking their hands off the controls. Switching from one activity to another in the Soviet-era MiG-29, which Ukrainian pilots now fly, requires “some pretty heavy changes in the cockpit,” General Breedlove said.
In the F-16, “you never lose sight of the war,” General Breedlove said. “It’s a lot more intuitive and far, far, easier to navigate under stress.”
When and where will they be trained?
Last week, before Mr Biden agreed to participate, the British and Dutch leaders announced an international coalition to provide Ukraine with F-16s and training to fly them. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from Britain said then that the training will start this summer; On Monday, the Dutch foreign minister, Wopke Hoekstra, predicted that it would start “very soon.”
Beyond Poland, it is not yet clear where the pilots will be trained, and American and European officials said Monday that many of the details still need to be worked out. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have all signaled they are willing to help – either by training Ukrainian pilots or sending F-16s to Kyiv.
It is likely that American pilots will be part of the training for Ukraine, especially since the United States helps train other countries that buy F-16s from Maryland-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The United States has F-16s stationed at two air bases in Europe – Spangdahlem in Germany and Aviano in Italy, General Breedlove said.
He said that “some of the most experienced F-16 pilots in the world are now in NATO air forces” as the US Air Force largely transitions to a more advanced fighter jet, the F-35.
General Breedlove said the West should not underestimate how quickly Ukrainian pilots can master the F-16, as they have done in other weapons systems.
“They have beaten our expectations every time,” he said.
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