F-16s for Ukraine: Commander of NATO's Allied Forces Europe outlines main training challenges

General Christopher Cavoli, the Supreme Commander of NATO's Allied Forces Europe, has listed the challenges faced by Ukrainian pilots learning to fly the F-16 fighter jets.

Source: Cavoli at a hearing of the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, as reported by European Pravda with reference to Voice of America

Details: Cavoli stated that F-16s, like "any other aircraft", will help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, the transition from Soviet aircraft to modern fourth-generation aircraft is challenging for Ukrainian pilots.  

Quote: "We are working on this together with them, and a whole coalition of different countries is working. After all, this will be very valuable for them," Cavoli said.

More details: Cavoli called the English language skills one of the biggest difficulties in training Ukrainians on the F-16s.

"If all manuals, all instructions and all buttons are in English, your level must be good enough to understand it. By the way, this is also the international language of flights. So it is simply necessary to speak English at a certain level. This is the first step," he explained.

Cavoli indicated that another problem is the absence of basic training among some Ukrainian pilots. In this case, they have to undergo it first and only then train on the F-16s.

Cavoli added that Ukraine lacks military aviators.

"The limiting factor for the quantity of pilots we are preparing at the moment is the shortage of Ukrainian pilots. Ukrainians have thoroughly calculated how many pilots they can afford to send to undergo training and still maintain the needed level of combat activity inside Ukraine. And this is what defines a factual training level or the number of pilots in the training process," Cavoli added.

Background:

• Reportedly, the first F-16 fighter jets will appear in the Ukrainian sky approximately in June 2024.
• Recently, the Belgian government adopted the 25th aid package for Ukraine, which includes funds for the maintenance of the F-16s.

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