The United States will redirect the training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots 16 to young cadets, not to experienced pilots – a decision that could extend by many months the time needed for Ukraine to have a fully combat-capable squadron of Western-made fighter jets, reports the "Wall Street Journal", quoted by News.bg.
The publication attributed this decision to the lack of enough experienced Ukrainian pilots with the necessary knowledge of the English language, according to US officials quoted to reporters.
Some of the newspaper's interlocutors share that in the USA they consider young cadets more suitable for training according to Western standards.
In August, an F-16 crash killed one of Ukraine's best fighter pilots, Alexei Mes, nicknamed Moonfish, a former MiG-29 squadron commander. He had recently graduated from an F-16 pilot program transferred to Ukraine.
According to the "Wall Street Journal", a full squadron of F-16 – including 20 aircraft and 40 pilots – unlikely to be available in Ukraine before spring or summer next year. This rating is provided by two sources familiar with the training program.
While experienced pilots can skip basic flight training, new pilots will have to spend a year learning to fly at bases in Britain and France before moving on to the F-16 course in Arizona and Romania, the paper said.< /p>
"We are still accepting experienced pilots. But there are those who don't have the necessary training and experience," said a senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Ukrainian Air Force did not respond to a request for comment.