The Netherlands’ defense minister told Reuters on Monday that training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets could begin as soon as this summer.
Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said starting the training this summer is the “ambition” and that the coalition of countries working to arm Ukraine with F-16s will see if it’s a realistic timeline.
The Netherlands and Denmark are leading the US-backed coalition of countries that will provide Ukraine with F-16 support. President Biden signed off on European countries sending their F-16s to Ukraine last month, but there’s still a long way to go before the American aircraft make it to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that he received a “powerful offer” on F-16s, but it’s still unclear how many Kyiv will receive. Ollongren said that a final decision on Ukraine’s request to receive dozens of F-16s from the Netherlands has not yet been made.
Estimates for how long the training for the Ukrainian pilots vary widely, from as little as four months, up to two years. Sources told Reuters that when the training begins, it will start with two groups of 12 Ukrainian pilots who are experienced at flying Soviet-made Mig fighter jets.
Ollongren said that the provision of F-16s is part of NATO’s long-term support for Ukraine. “It is a very strong weapons system. It’s a very strong capability. But it’s not going to be available anytime soon, and President Zelensky, of course, knows that,” Ollongren said.
Russia has warned strongly against NATO providing Ukraine with F-16s and other advanced jets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that F-16s can carry nuclear weapons and warned the provision of the aircraft was a major escalation of US and NATO involvement in the war.
If Kiev regime doesn’t collapse until the end of this year, it can use those fighter jets in the next year counteroffensive. The right time to start Counteroffensive 2024 is the middle of October. So, by the end of October, just before the presidential elections, Biden can announce “mission accomplished” and grateful America will reelect him.
Another Winter of “just you wait for our next Spring offensive”?
Biden might be too confused to bail but the Europeans are already looking for exists in their traditionally quisling way that reminds one of Norway’s Quisling who ran it during WW2.
The G7 and Brussels represent Germany and in this case today’s Quislings represents those crazy nordic folk just like in the old days, who do the evil one’s bidding.
Those Europeans who got in the shit, they definitely need to look for the exit.
Where are they going to take off from?.. Where are they going to land?
Not all airfields are destroyed. Even if destroyed, it is possible to repair them. They give to Kiev regime not so many F-16, just enough for occasional terrorist attacks against Russian towns.
“Terrorist attacks against Russian towns”
So I guess you can call Russia the master of terrorist attacks in Ukraine.
Ukrainian/NATO artillery attacks on residential area in Russian town Shebekino had exclusively a terrorist goal. There were neither military presence in Shebekino nor military installations. Many houses were damaged and the people were forced to abandon their homes.
The artillery attacks against residential areas in Donbass were encouraged by US since March 2014. The goal of those attacks from the beginning was to terrorize the civilian population.
It’s called roads. You don’t always need an airfield to take off and land. A paved road with the required distance and expeditionary makings will do the job and more importantly, will make it harder for Russia to find them.
I’ve seen their “roads”… Lots o luck.
Western Ukraine.
Which will be called Ukraine.
Not for long.
No time to change the F-16 instruments from Danish and Dutch to Ukrainian for the pilots….! Will pilots be forced to learn Danish & Dutch…? How long would that take…?
On the Danish F16 instrumenting is in English – I would think they are the same in the Dutch planes.
You tankies are tying yourselves up in knots. On one hand, you all are implying the F-16 is “outdated” and on the other hand you’re worried about US “Flying Tigers” whipping some Russian tail in these fighters. So which is it gang?
That because you are such a moron that you must think the ‘tankies” must communicate with each other and can’t have separate opinions that differ. Unlike you and your group of likeminded idiots.
You honestly believe all you tankies don’t read each others comments? Also, it’s really strange to us — the people who use reason to think and not emotion — that ALL of you are in lock-step with the opinion that US aggression is bad and unwarranted but Russian aggression is good and warranted. So, yeah, we believe you all are suffering from disjointed groupthink…
Then read those comments. They aren’t ALL the same. And I think all aggression is bad, Russia’s included. But Russia is just reacting to 30 years of US/NATO, especially the US, aggression which you and your likeminded idiots fail to acknowledge. Unwarranted my a$$.
Double standard. Must be nice to have it both ways.
Double standard about what?
If the numbers being presented on the prowar Fox News are true, they are going to need those jets really quickly because Ukraine is losing a lot of stuff/men in battle.
They’ll be shot down quickly but they’ll help while they fly.
Recent news has suggested F-16’s will arrive by August.
The pilots trained as in this story would not be in time to fly them.
So the real problem — who will be flying them?
I fear another round of “The Flying Tigers,” or the “Eagle Squadrons” of American volunteer pilots who flew for Britain early in WW2.
Don’t forget either that we denied Air America flying all over Laos, or our air support flying in the Bay of Pigs.
The worst possible decisions from this point have a lot of past examples to fear.
“or our air support flying in the Bay of Pigs”
That was easy to deny, since US air support DIDN’T fly in the Bay of Bigs. JFK said no to the CIA. Then they launched the operation, thinking he’d give in once it was underway and the air support was needed, and he didn’t. That was likely one of the major elements leading to their decision to … remove … him.
How old is the F-16? How old are the Russian planes? Just thought I’d ask.
The difference between F-16 and old Soviet is that F-16 is fit for using NATO missiles.
I can’t imagine, given the current projectory, that this conflict won’t have gone nuclear by the end of the summer, if it hasn’t happened already. Tactical nukes are a too-convenient game changer, hard to prove their use and even harder to respond to. Those NATO-trained pilots will be encountering a whole new ball game by this fall.
If that happens, it will be game over.
So no, they won’t be encountering a new game. It will be done and dusted.