Ukrainian Pilots Undergoing Skills Evaluation in U.S.

Two Ukrainian pilots are reportedly undergoing tests in the U.S. to determine the time it would take to train them to fly fighters such as the F-16, and ten more pilots are expected to join them soon.

Skills of the Ukrainians are currently being evaluated on simulators at a U.S. military base in Tucson, Arizona, NBC NEWS reported citing two Congressional officials and a senior U.S. official on Sunday.

The U.S. authorities have approved bringing in up to 10 more Ukrainian pilots for further assessment as early as this month, the report said. Ukraine is said to have fewer than 20 pilots ready to travel to the U.S. to train on F-16s, and another 30 or so who could be trained in the near future.

Also read: Ukraine Receiving F-16s, JDAMs?

“The program is about assessing their abilities as pilots so we can better advise them on how to use capabilities they have and we have given them,” an official said.

The officials emphasized that it “isn’t a training program and shared that the Ukrainians will not be flying any aircraft during their time in the United States.”

Colin Kahl, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, told the House Armed Services Committee in late February that the U.S. has not made the decision to provide F-16s to Ukraine. Kahl added that the U.S. has “not started training on F-16s” and that the delivery timeline for F-16s is “essentially the same” as the training timeline, about 18 months.

Kahl stated previously that Ukrainian officials have asked the U.S. for as many as 128 aircraft — a mix of F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s.

Ukraine’s military will ultimately need between 50 and 80 F-16s to replace its current air force, Kahl added.

Related news: Blockade of Western Jets to Ukraine to be Removed, Kyiv Requests F-16s

If the U.S. provides newly built aircraft, it will take three to six years to deliver them to Ukraine, with a slightly shorter timeline of 18 to 24 months if the U.S. sends refurbished older models of F-16s.

The cost to send the F-16s would be as much as $11 billion, depending on the model and number delivered.

“You don’t actually save yourself time by starting the training early in our assessment. And since we haven’t made the decision to provide F-16s and neither have our allies and partners, it doesn’t make sense to start to train them on a system they may never get,” Kahl said.

Other U.S. defense officials were quoted as saying by Militarnyi that the training could be shortened to six to nine months, depending on the pilot’s previous training and knowledge of fighter aircraft.