Washington does not allow Ukrainian pilots to train on F-16 fighters, which belong to European countries, writes The New York Times, citing a senior Ukrainian official. The United States is skeptical about the transfer of American fighter jets to Kyiv, the newspaper reports.
Until permission is obtained from Washington, the training of Ukrainian pilots can only consist of tactical training and the study of a technical language. Training on real technology is impossible.
The Joseph Biden administration does not want to send its F-16s to Ukraine because they would take too much money from the military budget, the article says. Another issue is that the fighter contains a number of classified systems, including radar.
Great Britain and the Netherlands will create a coalition for the supply of F-16 to Ukraine. The office of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that London will open a new training center to train Ukrainian military pilots to use Western aircraft. According to Politico, the pressure on the Biden administration to transfer the F-16s to Kiev is intensifying.
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