Ukraine plans to receive 60 F-16 fighter jets from its Western allies in the near future, but the country faces significant difficulties in training pilots for these aircraft. According to the German information portal T-Online, only 15 to 20 pilots have been trained at the moment, which creates serious challenges for the effective introduction of new aircraft.
The USA is responsible for this development. "The training center in Tuscon, USA, has reached the limit of its capabilities" because it has to train F-16 pilots for several countries at once.
Erin Hannigan, who is responsible for public relations in the US National Guard, confirmed that the 162nd squadron can train 30 foreign pilots annually. According to her, it is "impossible" to increase this number.
"Now the question arises: did the US know how many pilots it could actually train when it promised training facilities?", the German portal asks.
T-Online points out that on top of that, Romania and Denmark also "can't accept more pilots into their program." What's more, Denmark is even closing its F-16 pilot training program as it transitions to the F-35. With reference to the Ukrainian press, T-Online writes that precisely the problems with the lack of places in the F-16 pilot training programs may be behind the "agreement with France" regarding the supply of Mirage-2000 fighters.
