Training courses for Ukrainian officers within the framework of the international aviation coalition have already begun, but the pilots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not yet left to master the F-16, Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, has told the news telethon.
"Our pilots are already being 'sent' to study every day. I look at the lists to see who has left. I call them. No, they are still here," he said.
He noted that the decision to train has been made, but the deployment of our pilots is still pending.
"It's not that simple. There are different training bases. It is possible that there will be one main one, and the rest will be auxiliary, because in addition to pilots, there are other aviation specialists who need to be trained. If a country that does not have F-16s in service can provide its base for initial training, then why not? We can consider different options. This is exactly what our management is doing - travelling to different countries, meeting colleagues and checking different air bases. Because we need to do everything quite quickly, and at the same time, with high quality," Ihnat explained.
According to him, Ukrainian aviation specialists have been training for several weeks now.
"We are talking about combat command officers who are undergoing certain courses," he said.