Pentagon Ready to Train Ukrainians on F-16s in the US

Wednesday, 23 August 2023

The United States is ready to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets in its country.

Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said at a briefing that the US is "ready to support a training effort" in the continental United States if "capacity in Europe is exhausted".

"I don't have any specifics to provide right now in terms of which bases that training could occur at, but certainly if the decision is made to do that and we move forward, we'll be sure to provide you with updates on that," Ryder said.

Earlier it was reported that the United States would train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets if European countries lag behind the schedule they have set or if the number of pilots increases significantly.

Before that, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, suggested that Brussels would decide to partially reimburse the costs incurred by member states that have decided to provide F-16s to Ukraine.

Ukrainian pilots have already begun training on F-16s in Denmark. Over the weekend, Denmark and the Netherlands announced their decision to hand over the aircraft to Kyiv after the training has been completed.

In mid-July, 11 partner countries, together with Ukraine, signed a memorandum that sets out the conditions for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s.

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