Day: January 2, 2025

The training period for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters was reduced by almost 3 months. This, in turn, allowed for operational superiority in the air, according to Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Serhii Melnyk.

As Melnyk explained, the NATO DEEP program focused on training pilots of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

“The process of obtaining private pilot certificates for cadets has been optimized, which allows us to reduce the training time for F-16 pilots by almost 3 months. This provides an important operational advantage in the air,” he said.

F-16 pilot training

On May 19, 2023, then UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte announced that the United States was ready to approve training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters.

The next day, on May 20, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that Washington was ready to agree to the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine, provided that they were not used to strike at Russian territory. After that, a number of countries began to join the training of Ukrainian pilots.

In August 2024, it was officially announced that F-16 fighters had arrived in Ukraine. The first aircraft were delivered by the Netherlands and Denmark. In particular, it became known that Belgium will deliver 30 fighters by the end of 2028.

Yesterday, on January 1, the British Embassy in Ukraine said that 200 Ukrainian aviators had undergone basic training for F-16 fighter jets in the UK.