Photo: JFC_Naples/Twitter
If Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky had his way 100 percent of the time, his Air Force would be bursting at the seams with American A-10 Warthogs and F-16 Fighting Falcons as quickly as they could make their way through Poland. But the reality of the Russo-Ukrainian War is far different. Not every request for weapons from Ukraine is answered positively or in earnest. Just look how long it's taking for Ukraine to get its hands on F-16s.
As first reported by the Washington Post, the United States Air Force does not expect the first round of Ukrainian pilots sent for training on the F-16 platform to be complete before the end of next summer, let alone the current summer. As outdated Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29s and Su-25s slug it out against Russian jets with more modern upgrade packages, it's clear Ukraine is chomping at the bits to speed up the acquisition process. But for all the rifles and ammo, all the Bradley fighting vehicles, and HIMARS rocket launch platforms, it took months of back-and-forth negotiations between Kyiv and Washington D.C. for the administration of President Joe Biden to even consider sending NATO's most prolific single-engine jet fighter into combat against the Russians.
It'd be 13 months after the start of the conflict that President Biden finally authorized the slow process of introducing small groups of Ukrainian pilots to the F-16 platform in May 2023. Even then, only six pilots with two backup reserves were selected to undergo this one-of-a-kind form of expedited training with a very open-ended expectation of a finishing date. To even begin the process of cross-training Ukrainian pilots familiar only with old Soviet hardware, they're required to undergo roughly four months of English lessons to understand the complex terminology associated with the F-16's subsystems that even native speakers would struggle to comprehend.
When combined with at least six months of behind-the-stick combat training and another six to train another round of six pilots, the result is an orientation program that might not even be ready in time for the end of the war. Meanwhile, other NATO operators of the F-16, like Denmark, the Netherlands, and Romania, are working independently of the U.S. operation to set up training operations for Ukrainian pilots over European soil. Under the current scheme, Ukrainian pilots would cross their homeland's border into Romania, where Danish and Dutch personnel would facilitate their own F-16 training program using Romanian air bases.
But even then, the relevant authorities involved in this operation remain especially tight-lipped about the particulars of Ukrainian F-16 training outside of U.S. airspace. But for the moment, there's reason to suspect the F-16 Fighting Falcon won't be involved in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict for the foreseeable future.
It'd be 13 months after the start of the conflict that President Biden finally authorized the slow process of introducing small groups of Ukrainian pilots to the F-16 platform in May 2023. Even then, only six pilots with two backup reserves were selected to undergo this one-of-a-kind form of expedited training with a very open-ended expectation of a finishing date. To even begin the process of cross-training Ukrainian pilots familiar only with old Soviet hardware, they're required to undergo roughly four months of English lessons to understand the complex terminology associated with the F-16's subsystems that even native speakers would struggle to comprehend.
When combined with at least six months of behind-the-stick combat training and another six to train another round of six pilots, the result is an orientation program that might not even be ready in time for the end of the war. Meanwhile, other NATO operators of the F-16, like Denmark, the Netherlands, and Romania, are working independently of the U.S. operation to set up training operations for Ukrainian pilots over European soil. Under the current scheme, Ukrainian pilots would cross their homeland's border into Romania, where Danish and Dutch personnel would facilitate their own F-16 training program using Romanian air bases.
But even then, the relevant authorities involved in this operation remain especially tight-lipped about the particulars of Ukrainian F-16 training outside of U.S. airspace. But for the moment, there's reason to suspect the F-16 Fighting Falcon won't be involved in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict for the foreseeable future.
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