ten Ukrainian soldiers trained in France to pilot fighter planes

Training for four of them began in March. The other six will arrive this summer.

Ukrainian fighter pilots are being trained in France, announced the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, on April 12. Pilots who, before flying on American F16 planes in Ukraine, are currently being trained at an air base in the southwest of France.

These ten pilots must first undergo a first stage of training in the United Kingdom, in particular to master English, the language used for military tactics. Four have already been trained in France since March. They had already flown fighter planes, which is not the case for the six others who have never taken the controls of a plane. They will arrive in France this summer.

Around forty Alpha Jets requisitioned

This general training is carried out on Alpha Jets, Franco-German designed planes with which these Ukrainian trainees in their twenties will carry out 80 hours of flights. France has extended the lives of these Alpha Jets specifically for this training which requires a real commitment on the French side. Firstly because around forty devices are needed for this training. Ten pilots is not trivial when we know that France trains around thirty each year. At the end of these six months in France, they will have to spend at least four months in another country with specific training for F-16s.

Ukraine has been waiting for these planes for many months, the first should be delivered this summer. This is important for the Ukrainians because, for now, the Russians have superiority in the skies and the Ukrainians want to reverse this trend. These fighter planes could prove valuable for better defending troops on the ground but also for carrying out attacks to blind the adversary, destroy their defenses, etc.

The F-16 is not the most efficient aircraft, but what matters most is its equipment. For now, the Ukrainians only have a small fleet of Soviet fighter planes dating from the 60s and 70s. The Russians have more, newer planes, but they have been used very little until now, in particular because crew training poses a problem. So will these F-16s be able to change the situation? In military terms, we speak of “game changer”. It is impossible to know at present, especially since for the moment only a small number of F-16s will be delivered this summer. Concerning the young Ukrainians trained in France, they should be comfortable in this plane at the beginning of next year but then – and it will take time – they will have to know how to handle combat tactics.