JAKARTA - The United States will allow European countries to train Ukraine on F-16 fighter jets, a top official of President Joe Biden's Administration confirmed on Sunday, a potential boon to Ukraine's efforts to counter Russian air superiority.
"The president has given the green light and we will allow, allow, support, facilitate and in fact provide the necessary tools for Ukraine to begin training in the F-16 as soon as Europe is ready," US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told Jake Tapper of CNN on the "State of the Union" program, as reported on July 17.
The decision is a major change for President Joe Biden, who said earlier this year he did not believe Ukraine needed the F-16.
It is known that one of the main problems facing the Kyiv ground forces during their counteroffensive was Russian air power. Russia still maintains air superiority, which makes it difficult for ground forces to advance.
In May, President Biden notified leaders of the Group of 7 (G7) nations, Washington would support joint efforts with allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots in fourth-generation aircraft, including the F-16, although at the time it was unclear when that training would be. will begin.
The US-made jet has air-to-air refueling capability. It is also compatible with most of the NATO armament already supplied to Ukraine.
Despite first entering production in the 1980s, the F-16 fighter jet has gone through several upgrades, making it more sophisticated and versatile than any jet Ukraine currently has in its fleet, a fierce rival to most Russian aircraft, with the exception of the -a newer model that Moscow is hesitant to deploy in Ukraine.
Sullivan noted that European allies had said they needed several weeks to prepare a training capability, saying the US would meet their timetable.
"The United States will not be a hindrance in ensuring that this F-16 training goes ahead," he said.
As previously reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky consistently pushed for the United States and other Western allies to supply its armed forces with more sophisticated weaponry, such as US-made F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles.
"This is not about Ukraine's superiority in space over Russia," President Zelensky said, as quoted by Reuters.
"It's just about equality. The F-16 doesn't just help those on the battlefield to move forward. It's very difficult to move forward without cover from the air," he said.
Last month, the Dutch defense minister said Ukrainian pilots could begin training to fly US-made F-16 fighter jets as soon as this summer.
The Netherlands and Denmark are leading an international coalition to train pilots and support staff, maintain the aircraft and ultimately supply Ukraine with F-16s. Previously, the Netherlands had said it would begin training of Ukrainian pilots "as soon as possible", but had not specified when such training could take place.
"This summer is our ambition. And we will see if it is realistic to start a training programme," said Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren.
He said the aim was to have the training program fully operational within six months. Denmark, where there are flight simulators, is a possible location to host the programme.
Two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the training would start with two groups of 12 Ukrainian pilots with experience flying Soviet-era MiGs.
It is known that it usually takes about 2.5 years to become a fighter pilot in the Netherlands. A US official spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, an estimated timeframe for training is still being finalized, but it could take as little as four months to teach basic F-16 skills to experienced Ukrainian pilots.
Meanwhile, Colonel Laurens-Jan Vijge, a Dutch F-35 pilot who flew the F-16 for 15 years, including several missions to Afghanistan, was part of a team set up to train Ukraine.
"Fly wisely, well, technically, if you're a pilot, it's also just an airplane," he said at Volkel Air Base, in the south of the Netherlands.
Ukrainian pilots had to learn how to operate the F-16's so-called 'throttle and stick'.
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"That means both on the throttle that you use to accelerate and the stick to control the plane, there are a lot of buttons with which you operate all the avionics. Usually on Soviet equipment, these were not there, or at least not so many," he explained.
The course will include language training and "simulator training where they learn how to handle the various subsystems in the aircraft," he said.
"And that's before you start talking about how to operate it as a weapons platform. So that's really the last part of the training."
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