Two to four pilots needed for each F-16 fighter jet – aviation expert Dolintse

Aviation expert Bohdan Dolintse said this on Espreso TV. 

“Among the countries that have joined the 'fighter jet coalition', not all of them are F-16 operators - they will only conduct training. The number of aircraft announced for transfer is not what we would like. At the same time, no one excludes that there will be additional negotiations to increase the number or that countries that do not operate F-16s will train our pilots on other types of equipment. For example, if we are talking about France, conditional Rafale or Mirage can be transferred,” he said.

The expert added that pilot training is a complex, lengthy, and expensive process.

“If we are talking about two or three squadrons (up to 40 aircraft), you need to have two or three pilots for each aircraft. Preferably a little more, at least four. This means 100-120 pilots who could work in shifts. A large number of countries are needed to train pilots in parallel to load 30-40 aircraft with constant work,” Dolintse summarized.

• On May 21, US President Joe Biden approved the training of Ukrainians on F-16s. Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured that Ukraine would not use these aircraft to strike at Russian territory.

• Ukraine hopes to receive the first modern American F-16 fighter jets in the fall of 2023.

• The Pentagon is convinced that the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine will take several months.

• At the Ramstein meeting, it was reported that the coalition for training the Ukrainian Armed Forces with F-16s will be led by Denmark and the Netherlands and will include four other countries.