In addition to the equipment delivered as part of the new American aid package, the Ukrainians are counting on the arrival of F-16 fighter jets to regain the initiative on the ground against the Russian enemy. So far, four European countries have pledged to supply Kyiv with units of this American multi-role fighter, renowned for its versatility and compactness. The Netherlands has pledged to provide 24 units, Norway 22, Denmark 19 and Belgium an unspecified number. The first deliveries are expected in mid-2024, but the F-16s could arrive "even before the start of summer," said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on the sidelines of a European Council meeting on Thursday, April 18.

However, pilot training in Europe is in less advanced stages, with only 10 Ukrainians currently undergoing training on European soil. After six months in the UK, where they learned the basics of combat aviation in English, four of them arrived in France in early March for what is known as the "advanced fighter" phase, during which they will be introduced to the various tactics used on Western fighters such as air-to-ground bombing and air defense tactics. The six other Ukrainian pilots still overseas are expected in France in the coming weeks.

Scheduled to last around six months, this phase will take place at an air base in southwest France, the precise location of which is being kept confidential for security reasons. The French training program for Ukrainian pilots includes approximately 50 simulator sessions and 80 flying hours on the Alpha Jet, a Franco-German twin-engine aircraft. The French Air Force used this model to train its pilots until early 2023, after which they switched to using the Pilatus PC-21s, a two-seater Swiss propeller plane. France still has 43 Alpha Jets, a dozen of which are still used by the Patrouille de France (the precision aerobatics demonstration unit of the French Air and Space Force), but are gradually being withdrawn from service.

According to a military source, the 10 Ukrainian pilots training in Europe are relatively inexperienced, which explains the length of their training journey. Their average age is between 21 and 23, and six of them had never sat in a combat aircraft before arriving in the UK. The other four had only flown Aero L-39s in Ukraine, a Czech trainer widely used in former Warsaw Pact countries. This youth and inexperience can be explained by the shortage of pilots in Ukraine, many of whom have been killed or injured since the start of the conflict. Nearly 100 Ukrainian aircraft have been destroyed or damaged by the Russians in the last two years, according to the Oryx website, which compiles the material losses of both belligerents based on visual evidence.

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