In the wake of promises received by Kiev from 3 countries to obtain American “F-16” fighters, the United States announced that in September it will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly the fighters. “These pilots will receive English language training in Texas in September, before taking part in pilot training in Arizona (southwestern United States) the following month,” said Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder. .
Ryder’s statement came after Norway announced its intention to provide Ukraine with a number of these American-made fighters, thus becoming the third country to make such a pledge, since Washington allowed its Western allies to provide Kiev with this advanced weapon. Norway did not reveal the number of fighters it will provide to Ukraine, but Denmark said it will provide Ukraine with 19 fighters, while the Netherlands will donate, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, 42 fighters.
According to Ryder, the training of Ukrainian pilots is supposed to take 5 to 8 months, depending on their current skills. . He added, “The United States will conduct this training, because it is impossible for Denmark and the Netherlands to manage all the operations of preparing Ukrainian pilots.”
Ryder stressed that: “Ukraine does not have the necessary infrastructure to operate the F-16 fighters at present,” noting that this matter is: “Part of the training program for the Ukrainians, which also includes maintenance of these aircraft, and ensuring that they have the necessary field equipment to maintain and maintain them.” At the right time, which guarantees them control and control of those fighters at Ukrainian airports, and all of these tasks are in the foreseeable future.
And the White House announced today that US President Joe Biden spoke, yesterday, Thursday, with his Ukrainian counterpart about the American training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighter jet, which will begin in September.
In a statement, the White House said, “Presidents Biden and Zelensky discussed beginning training of Ukrainian fighter pilots, and ensuring the speedy approval of other countries to transfer their F-16s to Ukraine after training.”
United States of America Ukraine
Read more in: The Gulf and the World
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2023-08-25 06:30:06
