The first F-16 fighter jets should start operating in Ukraine “before the end of the first quarter of next year.” That is, until the end of March 2024.
This was stated by the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba in an interview with Radio Liberty.
Training should start around August, possibly early September. In parallel, the preparation of documents and the aircraft themselves will go on.
“I think that if by the end of the first quarter of next year the first F-16s will fly in Ukrainian air, controlled by Ukrainian pilots, then this will be in accordance with the schedule,” the Foreign Minister said.
He immediately clarified that the schedule could move, because it is necessary to prepare a lot of technical nuances – engineers, technicians and infrastructure.
Recall that yesterday the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Reznikov signed a memorandum with 11 colleagues on the creation of a coalition to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets . a coalition of 11 countries will begin training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 at the end of the summer of 2023. We are talking about Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the UK.
Also earlier, as it became known, Denmark had already begun training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets .
Source : CTPAHA