Ukrainian pilots will learn to fly F-16s at US Air Force’s 162nd Wing

WASHINGTON — The U.S. will begin training Ukrainian F-16 pilots within two months, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a briefing Thursday.

While he didn’t give specific numbers, he said there would be “several” pilots and “dozens” of maintainers trained. This follows comments earlier in the week that the U.S. would participate in the process only if the Netherlands and Denmark — who are leading the transfer of planes — reached capacity.

“We know that as the Danes and the Dutch prepare to train those pilots that at a certain point in time in the future, capacity will be reached,” Ryder said.

The training will begin in October at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, and will be conducted by the Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing, Ryder said. In September, the pilots will first receive English language training tailored to the training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

Details on the curriculum, including its speed and the kind of training that will be offered, are still uncertain, Ryder said. They partially will depend on the experience level of the Ukrainian pilots.

The 162nd Wing carries out international F-16 pilot training and has trained pilots from 25 countries to fly the fourth-generation fighter, the Air Force said in a fact sheet. Morris Air National Guard Base sits next to the Tucson International Airport and uses some of the airport’s facilities such as its runway.

The wing has three squadrons that fly its F-16 Fighting Falcons, as well as maintenance squadrons to keep the fighters in the air and other units.

An Air Force official said in a Thursday email that pilots without prior flight experience could learn to fly the F-16 in about eight months, as part of the service’s standard F-16 basic qualification course.

Pilots who have previous experience flying other fighters can learn to fly the F-16 in about five months under the Air Force’s transition qualification track, the official said.

The F-16, versions of which have been flown by the Air Force for more than 40 years, can carry weapons such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile and AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missile, or AMRAAM. It can fly of speeds up to Mach 2, and has a total range of about 2,000 miles, according to the Air Force’s website.

In total, up to 61 Dutch and Danish F-16s could eventually be transferred to Ukraine. The Netherlands have 42 available, according to Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Denmark said Aug. 20 it would send 19 F-16s to Ukraine. Because the planes are an American system, they first need to be approved by the State Department — a process Secretary of State Antony Blinken said would be expedited.

The Danish military announced Aug. 20 that it had started training eight Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s as part of this effort, and that another 65 service members will be trained to maintain the fighters and provide other support. Those Ukrainians have already arrived at Skrydstrup Air Base in Denmark, the nation said.

Other countries in Europe, including Greece and Norway, will also contribute, either training pilots or donating fighters.

“Our F-16 coalition is proving its efficiency,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.

Today’s announcement is the latest milemarker in the effort to deliver the fighters to Ukraine , which has been asking for them for more than a year. Initially, the administration declined. Yet, as with so many other systems eventually sent to Kyiv during the war, that stance eventually changed.

“We could certainly have started earlier, but there were much higher priorities,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in May.

The fighters may be a symbolic victory for Ukraine. But they won’t aid its slogging counteroffensive, which has so far failed to puncture dug-in Russian defensive lines. The fighters aren’t expected to arrive until mid-to-late 2024, and air defenses on both sides of the war still threaten anything flying.

Instead, the aircraft are part of a long game to improve Ukraine’s self-defense. The focus now is on supplying the planes and training personnel, but Kyiv will also need improved airfields and ground equipment to keep operating them once delivered, Ryder said.

“We’re talking months, not weeks, obviously. And as we said from the very beginning in May, this is about the long term support to Ukraine,” Ryder said.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

华盛顿——五角大楼新闻秘书帕特·莱德准将在周四的新闻发布会上表示，美国将在两个月内开始训练乌克兰F-16战斗机飞行员。

虽然他没有给出具体数字，但他表示将培训“数名”飞行员和“数十名”维护人员。此前，他曾表示，只有在牵头进行飞机转移的荷兰和丹麦达到容量上限后，美国才会参与这一进程。

莱德说：“我们知道，随着丹麦人和荷兰人准备培训这些飞行员​​，在未来的某个时候，飞行员的训练能力将会达到极限。”

莱德表示，训练将于10月在亚利桑那州图森市的莫里斯空军国民警卫队基地开始，由空军国民警卫队第162联队负责实施。9月，飞行员们将首先在德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥市的拉克兰空军基地接受专门针对此次训练的英语语言培训。

莱德表示，课程的具体细节，包括进度安排和培训内容，目前尚不确定。这些细节将部分取决于乌克兰飞行员的经验水平。

美国空军在一份情况说明书中表示，第162联队负责F-16战斗机飞行员的国际训练，已培训了来自25个国家的飞行员驾驶这种第四代战斗机。莫里斯空军国民警卫队基地毗邻图森国际机场，并使用机场的部分设施，例如跑道。

该联队下辖三个中队，负责驾驶其 F-16 战隼战斗机，此外还有维护中队，负责保证战斗机和其他部队的正常运转。

一位空军官员在周四的电子邮件中表示，没有飞行经验的飞行员可以在大约八个月内学会驾驶 F-16 战斗机，这是空军标准 F-16 基础资格课程的一部分。

这位官员表示，有驾驶其他战斗机经验的飞行员，根据空军的过渡资格认证途径，大约五个月就能学会驾驶 F-16 战斗机。

F-16战斗机，其各种型号已在美国空军服役超过40年，可携带AIM-9“响尾蛇”空空导弹和AIM-120先进中程空空导弹（AMRAAM）等武器。据美国空军网站称，其飞行速度可达2马赫，总航程约为2000英里。

总计最多可能有61架荷兰和丹麦的F-16战斗机最终移交给乌克兰。据荷兰首相马克·吕特称，荷兰目前拥有42架F-16战斗机。

丹麦于8月20日宣布将向乌克兰派遣19架F-16战斗机。由于这些飞机属于美国系统，因此需要先获得美国国务院的批准——国务卿安东尼·布林肯表示，这一程序将会加快进行。

丹麦军方8月20日宣布，作为这项计划的一部分，已开始训练8名乌克兰飞行员驾驶F-16战斗机，另有65名军人将接受培训，负责维护这些战斗机并提供其他支持。丹麦方面表示，这些乌克兰飞行员已经抵达丹麦斯克里德斯特鲁普空军基地。

欧洲其他国家，包括希腊和挪威，也将做出贡献，要么培训飞行员，要么捐赠战斗机。

“我们的 F-16 联盟正在证明其效率，”泽连斯基周一在 X（前身为 Twitter）上写道。

今天的公告是向乌克兰交付这些战斗机的努力取得的最新进展，乌克兰已经请求这些战斗机一年多了。最初，美国政府拒绝了这一请求。然而，就像战争期间最终运往基辅的许多其他系统一样，这一立场最终发生了改变。

“我们当然可以更早开始，但当时还有更重要的事要处理，”空军部长弗兰克·肯德尔在五月份表示。

这些战斗机的到来或许对乌克兰来说是一项象征性的胜利，但它们对乌克兰举步维艰的反攻并无助益，乌克兰的反攻至今仍未能突破俄罗斯坚固的防线。预计这些战斗机要到2024年中后期才能抵达，而且交战双方的防空系统仍然对任何飞行物构成威胁。

相反，这些飞机只是提升乌克兰自卫能力长期计划的一部分。莱德表示，目前的重点是提供飞机和培训人员，但基辅还需要改进机场设施和地面设备，才能确保飞机交付后能够持续运行。

“我们说的是几个月，而不是几周，这显而易见。正如我们五月份一开始就说过的那样，这关乎对乌克兰的长期支持，”莱德说。

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。

斯蒂芬·洛西是《防务新闻》的空战记者。他此前曾在《空军时报》报道领导层和人事问题，并在Military.com网站报道五角大楼、特种作战和空战。他曾前往中东报道美国空军的行动。