Pentagon to Start Training Ukrainian Pilots on F-16s in the US
The Pentagon will begin training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets inside the US and could start as early as September, a US official told The New York Times on Thursday.
The US initially said that the training would only be conducted in Europe unless the countries leading it, the Netherlands and Denmark, reached capacity. “[We’re] open to training existing pilots if capacity is reached in Europe,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on Monday.
“That’s the condition. So, if Denmark and the Netherlands are taking the lead on training, if they just do not have the capacity … to train as many pilots as Ukraine wants to send or plans to send, then we will … help train stateside,” she added.
