First pilots arrive in France for F-16 training
After a fast-track course, they will spend another 4 months of adaptation in Romania
The first ten Ukrainian pilots have arrived in France to undergo comprehensive training in accordance with the standards of the Air Force.
The training is taking place at a base in the south-west of the country. For security reasons, the French authorities do not disclose information about the location of the Ukrainian pilots.
Source. This was reported by RFI.
The trainee pilots are aged between 21 and 23, and four of them had experience flying Czech L-39 training aircraft.
Before heading to France, the Ukrainian pilots spent three months in the UK, learning English, the language used by NATO pilots. The four experienced pilots arrived in France in early March.
During the six-month training, the pilots will be flying, among other things, the Alpha Jet, an aircraft of the Patrouille de France (French national aerobatic team operating within the French Air Force), which has long been used to train French pilots.
At the French base, novice pilots have six months to master all the basics of the profession: close air combat, remote combat using radar, and ground attack.
In total, it involves 80 hours of flying and fifty simulator sessions per pilot. The accelerated training is half the length of the French Air Force's course, but Kyiv had no choice because its air force has been damaged since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion and needs immediate restoration, the newspaper writes.
The F-16s are expected to arrive in Ukraine this summer. After completing their training in France, Ukrainian pilots will switch to the fighters, but in Romania for a four-month adaptation period. Only after that will the pilots go into combat, with the first flights expected in late 2024.
Background. As reported, three more Dutch F-16 fighters have recently arrived at the European Training Centre near the Romanian city of Fătesti. There are already eight F-16s at the base, with 32 more to arrive from Norway.
During today's Ramstein, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that the first F-16s will arrive in Ukraine this year with trained pilots and support staff.
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