Global Courant 2023-05-19 07:23:47
Two United States Air Force F-16 Fighting FalconsUS Air Force photo by Tech. Sergeant Matthijs Lotz
Ukrainian pilots can master F-16 jets in four months, according to an Air Force document obtained by Yahoo News.
That’s more than four times faster than Pentagon officials predicted earlier this year.
The internal review is likely to increase pressure on Biden to send Ukraine the planes.
Two Ukrainian pilots have proven they can master American-made F-16 fighter jets in just four months — more than four times faster than the Pentagon previously predicted — in a feat the increasing pressure on the Biden administration to send the lightweight fighter jets to Ukraine.
Yahoo News obtained and published an internal review from the U.S. Air Force on Thursday detailing the F-16 training two Ukrainian pilots underwent at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, in late February and early March. Over the course of a total of eleven and a half hours in nine separate simulations, the Ukrainian aviators outperformed U.S. expectations in their rapid ability to learn the ins and outs of the aircraft, according to the document.
The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Four veteran US Air Force instructors assessed the Ukrainian pilots and determined that the pilots could perform several “relatively technical” maneuvers, including landing after losing an engine and withstanding feint attacks, Yahoo News reported, citing the judgement.
The Ukrainian pilots received no formal training on the F-16 flight simulator beyond a brief introduction to the aircraft prior to their training, the document said. The two men were already qualified to one MiG-29 And Su-27 respectively, both Soviet-era fighters which, according to the outlet, make up the majority of Ukraine’s remaining air force.
At a congressional hearing in February, Colin Kahl, the outgoing US assistant secretary of defense for policy, said training Ukrainian soldiers on F-16s would take about 18 months – the same amount of time it would take to export the fighter jets to Ukraine.
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The long projected training time was one of the reasons the Pentagon has often cited as a reason for not giving Ukraine the coveted planes for which they’ve been jockeying for months. So say Ukrainian defense leaders the F-16s are needed to shoot down Russian attack fighters that drop bombs.
But the report published by Yahoo on Thursday shows that four months is a “realistic training timeline” for Ukrainian pilots to undergo onboard training.
The internal document was also shared with several NATO allies trading in the fighter jets, the outlet reported.
Meanwhile, European leaders this week include top officials in the UK and Germanycontinued to pressure the Biden administration to make a decision about sending the F-16s.
On Thursday, the Biden administration suggested it would not stop other NATO allies from exporting the American-made plane to Ukraine. CNN reported that.
Read the original article Business Insider
