{"id":64538,"date":"2023-10-26T15:12:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T15:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/26\/ukrainian-pilots-begin-f-16-training-in-arizona\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:19:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:19:00","slug":"ukrainian-pilots-begin-f-16-training-in-arizona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2023\/10\/26\/ukrainian-pilots-begin-f-16-training-in-arizona\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian pilots begin F-16 training in Arizona"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukrainian military pilots have begun learning to fly the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet in Arizona, the U.S. Air Force confirmed Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A \u201csmall number\u201d of Ukrainians started training at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson this week, Air Force spokesperson Rose Riley said in an emailed statement. Morris is home to the 162nd Wing of the Arizona National Guard, an F-16 pilot training hub that hosts international students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe training curriculum will align with the foundational knowledge and skills of each pilot and is expected to last several months,\u201d Riley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The initiative is the latest step in America\u2019s efforts, along with its NATO allies, to support Ukraine in its nearly two-year war with Russia. The U.S. has provided more than $113 billion in military, humanitarian and other aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded its eastern European neighbor in February 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/18\/us\/politics\/ukraine-russia-war-casualties.html\" target=\"_blank\">reported in August<\/a> that the war had killed nearly 500,000 troops in its first 18 months, citing U.S. officials. Thousands more civilians are dead and millions displaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. officials have stressed that building a Ukrainian F-16 enterprise is a long-term solution to modernize the country\u2019s military and bolster regional security, not an immediate way to add combat firepower as Ukraine tries to drive out Russian forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In September, Air National Guard boss Lt. Gen. Michael Loh told reporters the first group of Ukrainian pilots could finish F-16 training by the end of the year, though it would take longer to get the jets into combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The initial pilots were expected to come in with more flight experience than others who may follow them, which would require the U.S. to spend more time getting them up to speed. Air Force leaders have estimated that training each batch of pilots could take up to nine months on average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukraine\u2019s leaders have pushed their Western allies to provide fighter jets. The Biden administration demurred for months, citing concerns about the cost, the possibility of provoking Russia and the planes\u2019 survivability against Russian air defenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But an Air Force-run study showed the idea was possible, and earlier this year, the administration signed onto a plan to send Ukraine the airframes \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2023\/08\/18\/ukraine-will-get-f-16-fighter-jets-from-dutch-danes-after-us-agrees\/\" target=\"_blank\">provided by the Netherlands and Denmark<\/a> \u2014 and to train troops in Europe and the U.S. with a coalition of nearly a dozen countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before arriving in Arizona, the first pilots headed to an English-language training program at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Defense Language Institute\u2019s English Language Center, led by the Air Force, graduates around 350 foreigners from about 50 countries each year. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/04\/13\/after-tragedy-us-air-force-probes-english-training-for-foreign-pilots\/\" target=\"_blank\">program prepares airmen<\/a> to hold conversations with pilots in flight, crew members in the back of an aircraft, and air traffic control towers, while minimizing accents and familiarizing students with Western aviation norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Learning to operate the F-16 will put existing combat skills and the English-language program to the test. Politico reported Oct. 13 that Ukrainian pilots had already begun learning their way around the jet in flight simulators in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some U.S. officials have publicly doubted how much of a difference giving Ukraine more advanced fighter jets than those in its Soviet-era fleet will make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">F-16s \u201cwill give the Ukrainians an increment of capability that they don\u2019t have right now,\u201d Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in May. \u201cBut it\u2019s not going to be a dramatic game-changer, as far as I\u2019m concerned, for their total military capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not all agree with that assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Loh told reporters the F-16\u2032s ability to disable enemy air defenses and fly low-altitude strike missions could help Ukraine. The jet is also supported by a robust network of international users and is still in production at Lockheed Martin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI definitely think it can be a game changer,\u201d Loh said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The F-16 fundamentals training course is expected to last several months, an Air Force spokesperson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":71931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":135,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[10,29,15,135,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-64538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-news","category-ukraine","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"L3FDAH3GLJEMPODIARKD2ZBGS4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/10\/26\/ukrainian-pilots-begin-f-16-training-in-arizona\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ukrainian pilots begin F-16 training in Arizona - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The F-16 fundamentals training course is expected to last several months, an Air Force spokesperson said.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ukrainian pilots begin F-16 training in Arizona\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The F-16 fundamentals training course is expected to last several months, an Air Force spokesperson said.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2023\/10\/26\/ukrainian-pilots-begin-f-16-training-in-arizona\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Military Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-26T15:12:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T21:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel S. 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