With the international effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s set to begin soon, the U.S.’ top military officer said Thursday it’s still “premature” to give a specific date on when advanced fighter aircraft could be employed in the fight against Russia’s invasion.
“There’s a lot of work to do. You have to do language training. You have to do pilot training. You’ve got to get all the systems set in place. So those wheels are in motion, but we’re a ways from completion of that project,” Army Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a press briefing.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin joined Milley at the briefing in Brussels following the 13th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, and said the group had received a briefing from the Netherlands and Denmark on an outline of the F-16 training effort and the steps ahead.
“I have to tell you that, in the 30 days that we’ve been after this, they have leaned into this in a major way,” Austin told reporters.
In late May, following the last contact group meeting, Austin confirmed the Netherlands and Denmark would lead the effort to train Ukrainian pilots on Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built F-16s, noting the U.S., Norway, Belgium, Portugal and Poland and others will also contribute to the initiative (Defense Daily, May 25).
“First, let me say how much I really appreciate the Netherlands and Denmark stepping up to lead this consortium. And they are outlining the plan for training, and there are a number of other countries that have joined in and volunteered to help in this effort. And so, this work continues,” Austin said on Thursday. “Again, this will take some time. But they’re really moving out in a very impressive way and they’re getting support from other partners in the [contact group].”
Kajsa Ollongren, the Netherlands’ defense minister, wrote in a June 14 letter to the country’s House of Representatives that the aim is to start Ukrainian pilots “as soon as possible” and detailed a three-step plan for the effort.
The effort will start with conversion training to the F-16, then language proficiency and basic flight training and ultimately lead into the establishment of an F-16 training center based in Eastern Europe, according to Ollongren’s letter.
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators sent a letter to Austin on May 14 seeking information on the factors around potentially providing F-16 fighter jets to assist Ukraine, citing the platform as a potential “game changer on the battlefield” (Defense Daily, May 18).