A European training centre to train Ukrainian pilots to operate F-16 fighter jets has been officially opened in Romania. The training centre is located at the 86th Air Base in Fetesti, 130 kilometres east of Bucharest.
« The centre will be an international hub for F-16 pilot training and will promote increased interoperability between the allies, » Tilvar said. The opening ceremony was attended by Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren. « Defence cooperation between European countries is important because no European country can ensure its own security alone, so we need to work together, » said Tilvar.
On 7 November, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that five Dutch F-16 fighter jets had arrived in Ukraine and were ready for deployment. « I am grateful to the Netherlands and to Prime Minister Mark Rutte for being at the forefront in supporting Ukraine, » Zelensky wrote on social media platform X. « We will continue to work together to welcome F-16s to Ukrainian skies as soon as possible ».
The Netherlands will provide 12-18 F-16s for training purposes, but the planes will remain Dutch property and will fly only on NATO territory, the Dutch defence ministry said.
Ukraine has long argued that it needs fighter aircraft to make significant military progress against Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion against it in February 2022. Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in October that the first aircraft would be sent to Ukraine by April 2024. Belgium has pledged to deliver the fighters by 2025 if the next government after next year’s elections agrees.
More Read
Last week, five Dutch F-16s arrived at a training centre in Romania. In total, the Dutch government will provide 12-18 aircraft for training. « The training centre in Romania will first use the aircraft for refresher training for the F-16 instructors it hires, and then provide training for Romanian and Ukrainian pilots.
In October, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the US would join the Netherlands and Denmark in leading a coalition of countries training Ukrainian pilots and crews to operate and maintain F-16 fighters.
Lockheed Martin, the US company that makes the fighter aircraft, will contribute to the training and maintenance.
More Read
Although the pace of procurement and training of F-16s has accelerated, it is estimated that the first Ukrainian pilots who will train on F-16 fighters will not be ready to fly them until the summer of 2024.
EUBriefs
Des journalistes européens ainsi que d’autres provenant de pays en dehors de l’Union européenne contribuent également aux contenus publiés par EUbriefs. EUbriefs publie des articles provenant de diverses sources externes qui reflètent un large éventail de points de vue. Les opinions exprimées dans ces articles ne reflètent pas nécessairement celles d’EUbriefs. EUbriefs utilise l’intelligence artificielle comme outil pour améliorer la qualité, l’efficacité et l’accessibilité du journalisme, tout en maintenant une supervision éditoriale humaine stricte, le respect des normes éthiques et une transparence totale dans tous les contenus assistés par l’IA.
