France is preparing to train Ukrainian fighter pilots “from now on”. Despite the training delays, the Ukrainians want to move quickly and always ask for more military aid.
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This had been a request from Ukraine for several months. During his television interview on TF1 on Monday May 15, President Macron confirmed that France is preparing “right now“to train Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter planes. France has not committed to the delivery of aircraft, but this training augurs well for French military air aid.
>> Training of Ukrainian fighter pilots by France: “An extremely long process”, warns General Jérôme Pellistrandi
This training will depend on the request of the Ukrainians, it is in substance what indicated the air force shortly after the intervention of the president. This may be basic training for apprentice pilots or, which is most likely, training for Ukrainian pilots already seasoned on Western planes, particularly French, such as the Mirage 2000. For the moment, there is no question of supplying these aircraft to Ukraine, but the training of pilots approved by the President of the Republic indicates quite clearly that France could actually deliver them. Fifteen Mirage 2000-Cs recently withdrawn from service are already available.
If it’s about training pilots who are already seasoned on this type of aircraft to simply fly them, “it’s a matter of two to three weeks” says a senior air force officer. If they have to be trained in aerial combat, the use of Western armaments or air support of ground troops, it could take up to seven or eight months. These are the normal times for training combat pilots in peacetime. But the Ukrainians have already demonstrated that they can shorten these times: they are at war.
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