Washington will allow the Europeans to transfer the F-16 to Kiev, but only after the Ukrainian pilots have received appropriate training, writes NYT. Denmark and the Netherlands will receive permission to send fighters.
Eric Schmitt
The planes will be sent only after the Ukrainian pilots have been trained.
The United States will finally allow the allies to supply Kiev with American-made F-16 fighter jets, but only after the Ukrainian pilots have received appropriate training, a US official confirmed on Thursday. Due to the requirements for the training of flight personnel, approval will be received only in a few months.
The counteroffensive of Ukraine, which began two months ago, "has a chance of victory" even without fighters, experts say, but it will certainly be much more difficult to achieve it (the presented view of the situation does not correspond to reality — approx. InoSMI).
Such terms will hardly surprise Kiev. The representative of the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, has already said on Wednesday that, as it became clear, the country will not receive F-16 fighters and will not be able to operate them either in the upcoming autumn or winter. Thus, he confirmed that they would not participate in the counteroffensive.
"We had high hopes for this plane," he added.
The Americans have been waiting for the decision since May, when President Biden weakened resistance to the plans of NATO allies to begin training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 and provide Kiev with aircraft. The official who confirmed Washington's change of position was not authorized to discuss the agreement publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Some of the pilots will be trained in the United States, a Pentagon spokesman said on Thursday.
"The United States is ready to support training together with the coalition and conduct training of Ukrainian pilots on its territory if Europe's capabilities are exhausted," said Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick S. Ryder.
Ukraine has Soviet MiG and Sukhoi fighters, but it has long claimed that the F-16 will allow it to achieve air superiority, although to date none of the parties has been able to do this since the entry of Russian troops in February 2022 (the presented view of the situation does not correspond to reality — approx. InoSMI).
It is expected that Denmark and the Netherlands, which lead the coalition for pilot training, will receive US permission to transfer equipment. According to an estimate provided by the US Air Force in March, the shortest time for full training of crews is from four months to six months. According to other estimates, the process will take much longer. In addition, long-term aircraft maintenance training will be required.
American officials said that Ukraine had chosen only eight pilots with a sufficient level of English for further training — this is even less than one squadron. This month, another 20 people will travel to the UK to study English.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon ("Fighting Falcon") first took to the air in 1976. Dozens of countries use the aircraft for combat operations in the air and hitting ground targets.
The F-16 fighters are manufactured by the defense contractor Lockheed Martin with the participation of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. According to a senior Ukrainian official, all four countries have declared their readiness to transfer the planes to Kiev.
In May, before Biden agreed to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16, the leaders of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands announced the creation of an international coalition to transfer fighter jets to Kiev and train crews. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said at the time that preparations would begin this summer.
In July, Acting Danish Defense Minister Troels Poulsen told reporters that he expects to see the "results" of the training early next year.
Authors of the article: Eric Schmitt, John Ismay, Lauren McCarthy
Eric Schmitt is a senior reporter, specialist in terrorism and national security coverage. Former Pentagon correspondent. An employee of The New York Times since 1983 and winner of four Pulitzer Prizes.
John Ismay is a correspondent for the Washington Bureau at the Pentagon and a former US Navy ordnance disposal officer.
Lauren McCarthy is the editor of live broadcasts, temporarily engaged in breaking news.
