US shifts to help Ukraine train young pilots to fly F-16?

F-16 fighter jets at a Danish air base, one of the training grounds for Ukrainian pilots

The Wall Street Journal reported on October 17 that the US is focusing on training young Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets instead of experienced airmen, although this could add months to Kyiv's plan to have a full squadron ready for combat.

Lack of students

US officials say the new direction is a result of a shortage of experienced Ukrainian pilots who have the necessary English skills and can leave the battlefield to train.

Over the past year, the United States and international partners have trained a small number of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets at three locations: the U.S. Morris Air National Guard Base in Arizona, Skrydstrup Air Base in Denmark, and the newly opened Fetești Training Center in Romania. To date, dozens of pilots have completed the courses, and 11 pilots are currently on active duty in Ukraine.

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Some officials also said the US believed younger trainees would be more open to Western-style instruction.

Ukraine is in dire need of more F-16 fighter jets and pilots to bolster its air defenses, which have been overwhelmed by Russian air attacks that have taken a toll on Ukraine's military and power infrastructure as winter approaches.

The US is reportedly shifting to training young Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16.

Hot Topic

The training of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets has been the subject of much attention recently, especially after an August crash that killed one of Ukraine’s top fighter pilots and destroyed one of Ukraine’s few F-16s. The pilot was a former MiG-29 squadron commander who had recently graduated from the F-16 program.

Even before the decision, Ukraine would likely not have a full squadron of F-16s — 20 planes and 40 pilots — until next spring or summer at the earliest, according to a person familiar with the program.

While the first group of Ukrainian pilots learning to fly the F-16 all had years of experience flying former Soviet fighter jets, the alliance has recently added more trainees to the group.

Experienced pilots can skip basic flight training, but newcomers must spend a year learning to fly the plane at bases in the UK and France before moving on to F-16 courses in the US and Romania.

“It’s a mix. Some of them are experienced pilots, and we’re still getting more experienced pilots. But there are also people who haven’t had that training and experience,” said a senior Pentagon official.

The Ukrainian Air Force did not respond to a request for comment on the F-16 training program.

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Accelerate training

For US Air Force pilots, training lasts about two years from start to finish, according to retired Lieutenant General David Deptula, president of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies (USA).

Basic flight training takes 9 months to a year to complete, followed by 4-6 months flying a selected aircraft and another 4-6 months learning the procedures of a first combat unit.

“To be an experienced pilot, you need an experienced pilot. That’s just a fact of life. You can’t graduate from elementary school and become an Olympic athlete in a few months,” Deptula said.

Even after training, Western pilots often fly for months in exercises and with their units before flying actual missions.

In contrast, Ukraine's new F-16 pilots moved from live training to the battlefield without the time and experience to operate the advanced aircraft optimally.

The US has accelerated the training of veteran Ukrainian pilots to six to nine months, depending on experience, by focusing on the specific missions they will face in a war against Russia, primarily air defense.

Ukrainian officials have argued for months that the accelerated training is necessary because of the existential threat their country faces. They say they need to train pilots as quickly as possible and have pushed the United States to open up more slots in the program.

U.S. officials said the Ukrainian students struggled to keep up with the curriculum and the English language skills required to complete the course.

American instructors also found that some Ukrainian pilots in the first batch of trainees — who had experience flying Soviet-designed MiG jets and had recently served in a war zone — objected to American training methods, according to the sources.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/my-chuyen-huong-giup-ukraine-dao-tao-phi-cong-tre-lai-f-16-185241017153015654.htm