Norwegian F-16. Photo: Norwegian Air Force
A coalition of 11 nations will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets in August in Denmark, and a training center will be set up in Romania, officials said on 11 July on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania, Reuters reports.
Denmark and the Netherlands, both NATO members, have been leading international efforts to train Ukrainian pilots and support staff to ultimately supply F-16s to Ukraine.
“Hopefully, we will be able to see results [at] the beginning of next year,” Danish acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told reporters.
Currently, no country has pledged to send Ukraine F-16s, although the US said it would supply Ukraine with F-16s and had signaled to European allies that the US would allow them to export the fighter jets to Ukraine on the condition that Ukraine would not use them to strike Russia.
Poland and Slovakia have supplied Ukraine with 27 Soviet-era MiG-29 aircraft.
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Tags: F-16