Romania may start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 in August
Training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters may begin as early as August. According to CNN sources familiar with the talks, the training will begin at an air base in Romania.
The country has 16 F-16s in service, and another 32 are to be delivered from Norway by the end of 2024.
The Romanian authorities have already asked Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of F-16 fighter jets, to provide a computer flight simulator for training Ukrainian pilots.
According to a CNN source, there are about ten instructors in Romania who can train Ukrainian pilots.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov expressed hope that the exercise would last about six months.
During the NATO summit in Vilnius, Reznikov signed a memorandum on training Ukrainian pilots to fly Western-style fighter jets, with 11 countries participating: Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
It is not yet known who is ready to provide Ukraine with Western fighter jets. Earlier, some Western countries reported that this issue was being actively discussed.
Earlier it was reported that the coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s will start in August, and the first 20 Ukrainian pilots will start training on Western fighters in the UK.
