Ukraine signs memorandum to create coalition for Ukrainian pilots' F-16 training

Reznikov wrote about this on Twitter.

The memorandum was signed by Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Ukraine’s Defence Minister noted that the memorandum provides for

• participation of Ukrainian pilots, technicians and support staff in the training programme;
• the possibility of including other types of fighter aircraft in the programme;
• the coalition's consideration of providing Ukraine with full F-16 capabilities in other ways.

Reznikov thanked Denmark and the Netherlands for their leadership in this process and noted that the Ukrainian Air Force is ready to start mastering the fighter jets as soon as possible.

According to acting Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, the member states of the so-called “fighter jet coalition” have agreed that training for Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s will begin in Denmark in August, Ritzau reports.

According to Poulsen, the "fighter jet coalition" will first select Ukrainians, conduct language, theoretical and practical training at the Skrydstrup air base in South Jutland.

"To begin with, we plan to train two groups. This will include a total of 10-12 pilots and support staff who will maintain the aircraft. It will be about 30-40 people," the Danish minister said of the preliminary plans.

Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said he expects to see the results of the training in six months, Reuters reports. The agency later added that the training would begin in Denmark and continue in Romania.

According to Poulsen, quoted by AP, the training of Ukrainian pilots will take 6-8 months, after which Denmark will be ready to supply its F-16 fighters to Ukraine.

F-16 fighters for Ukraine

On May 21, U.S. 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.

Defense Ministry adviser Yuriy Sak said that Ukraine hopes to receive the first modern American F-16 fighters in the fall of 2023.

On May 25, at a meeting in the Ramstein format, it was announced that the coalition to train the Ukrainian Armed Forces with F-16s would be led by Denmark and the Netherlands and would include four other countries: Norway, Belgium, Portugal, and Poland. 

On June 14, one of the leaders of the "aviation coalition," the Netherlands, announced that training of Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s would begin in the coming months.

On June 15, following the Ramstein meeting, Stoltenberg said that training on the F-16 had already begun. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin noted the rapid progress in this area, and a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force said that they wanted a quick result, but that "the process is delayed."

The same day, it was reported that Denmark and the Netherlands plan to start training Ukrainian pilots this summer and will establish a training center in an Eastern European NATO country.

Following the Ramstein meeting, Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov expressed confidence that we would have a "bird coalition."

According to a Politico source, a coalition of Western countries is considering Romania as a place to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s.

On June 22, Denmark requested assistance from the United States to train Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16 fighters.

On June 26, Acting Defense Minister of Denmark, Troels Lund Poulsen, announced the commencement of training for pilots from Ukraine on Western F-16 fighter jets.

On July 1, President Zelenskyy mentioned that the schedule for training Ukrainian pilots on Western F-16 fighter jets has not been finalised yet, and some foreign partners are causing delays.

On July 6, media reported that Romania would become a base for training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.

On July 7, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Prague that the country will supply helicopters and train pilots to fly F-16s.

On July 11, Ukraine agreed to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 combat aircraft with France. The countries will sign a memorandum.