Netherlands Helping to Train 26 Ukrainians to Become Crew Chiefs for F-16 jets

The Netherlands MoD is helping in the training of 26 Ukrainian air force technicians to become Crew Chiefs who will handle the ground operations of the F-16 fighter jets that Amsterdam has donated to Kyiv.

The crew chiefs will be responsible for the final checks of the fighter planes before departure and after returning to the base. After starting up and completing all checks, he or she pulls out the safety pins of, among other things, the landing gear and the fuel tanks.

The F-16 can then drive out of the shelter and then take off. Crew chiefs also take over the aircraft from the pilot after returning to base.

The training will take place at an air base in the Netherlands and lasts until the end of April. Minister Ruben Brekelmans announced this today during a visit by his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov to The Hague.

The Netherlands itself has taken the initiative to facilitate the training of F-16 ground personnel.

Together with Denmark and the United States, our country leads the so-called Air Force Capability Coalition (AFCC). One of its goals is to make the Ukrainian air force interoperable with NATO partners, a Netherlands MoD release said.

The Netherlands previously announced that it would deliver 24 F-16s to Ukraine. The air force itself no longer needs the aircraft due to the switch to the F-35. The training of Ukrainian pilots is done, among other things, via the European F-16 training centre in Romania. For this purpose, 18 Dutch F-16s are used.