A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot killed when his aircraft crashed on August 26 was one of just six aviators in the country trained to fly the jet. 

Though 40 pilots and 20 F-16 planes would be needed for a full operational squadron, a US official told the Wall Street Journal that Ukraine had to date received only six F-16s and had only six pilots trained to fly them. 

Volodymyr Zelensky fired the head of the Ukraine’s air force just days after the crash that killed pilot Lt Col Oleksiy Mes, who was also known by his call sign “Moonfish”. 

A preliminary investigation into the crash appears to show “indications” that friendly fire from a Patriot missile battery could have downed the jet. 

In February, Lt Col Mes told Ukrainian media that the F-16 training he was undertaking was a “really condensed programme”. 

He added that transitioning from Soviet-type jets to Western jets was like “going from using a Nokia straight to an iPhone without all those steps in between”.

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