F-16s at Morris ANG Base, Arizona, in 2022.
The U.S. will begin to train Ukrainian pilots and maintainers on the Lockheed Martin F-16 later this year as the Pentagon seeks to accelerate adoption of the Fighting Falcon by increasing training capacity.
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen Patrick Ryder announced the move on Aug. 24, saying the Defense Department expects to train “several” pilots and “upward of dozens” of maintainers. The personnel will be at the 162nd Wing at Morris ANG Base, Arizona, starting in October.
The wing is the Air National Guard’s top F-16 training unit and has schooled pilots from dozens of countries on the aircraft, Ryder says. Recently, this has included pilots from Iraq, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
The Netherlands and Denmark are leading the international effort to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16. Ryder says the Pentagon decided to get ahead of capacity restrictions that would be expected in the European training effort.
Ukrainian personnel will receive English lessons at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, ahead of flight training, Ryder says. At Morris, Ukrainian pilots will undergo fundamental fighter training though Ryder would not predict the extent, not discussing whether other capabilities not necessarily needed now in Ukraine will be included, such as aerial refueling.
The Arizona sessions are in addition to the effort in Europe that is underway, with Ukrainian pilots receiving English lessons and initial propeller flight training in the UK, says Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe. The pilots then are scheduled to go to France for initial jet training on Dassault Alpha Jets ahead of F-16 sessions in Romania.
Ryder would not speculate on when F-16s would arrive in Ukraine, only saying it would follow completion of pilot training. Ukraine does not operate the aircraft already, so Kyiv will need to prepare its airfields with adequate infrastructure to support Fighting Falcon operations.
Multiple European nations have pledged aircraft, including Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. These nations will need U.S. approval for a third-party transfer, and American officials have promised to speed up that process.
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