Rome, 28 March 2024 – The fighters Western F-16s (those that the Russian president Vladimir Putin threatens to strike “wherever they are”) will arrive in the skies of Ukraine in the coming months, but not before the summer. They will be piloting them 12 men from Kievwho are finishing training in Denmark, Great Britain and the United States. In total, 45 jets will be supplied. “An acceleration of the delivery of F-16s is vital,” the Ukrainian president said Volodymyr Zelensky. Fighter planes are clearly a threat to Moscow and will open a new phase of the conflict. The war in Europe, for the first time since 1945, is a “real” fact: we are slipping into a “pre-war” phase with Russia, it is moreover only the latest alarm, launched in these hours, by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tuskin his first interview with international media, those of the Lena consortium.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (photo Ansa)
Will they be enough?
But will this supply be enough for a turning point in the war? In August 2023, Zelensky argued that the number would not be enough for Ukraine to have 160 fighters of this type. Zelensky had said that Ukraine needs another hundred fighters in addition to the “50 or 60” already promised. “In total, we need about 160 fighters to have a powerful air force that does not give Russia the opportunity to dominate the airspace,” the Ukrainian president added, complaining that this help arrived “later than I wanted” and that Russian dominion of the skies is “absolute”.
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An F16 fighter (photo Ansa)
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How we got here
The process began in August last year, with Washington authorizing allies to supply F-16s to Ukraine. A month earlier, 11 countries had already formed one ‘fighter coalition’ for sending planes and training pilots, which grew subsequently to 14 states and led by the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands. Some countries provide planes, others make their jets and instructors available to train pilots on their territory. Until now Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium have committed to sending the jets to Ukraine, enough for three small squadrons, and delivery dates range from 2024 to 2025. But now time is running out. Last week, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren confirmed that Ukraine is expected to receive the first F-16s this summer, noting that the first fighters will arrive from Denmark. In fact, the delivery of the first six jets out of the 19 promised by Copenhagen is expected for that period: according to the New York Times, we could see the first F-16s in Ukraine already in July. And even the British Foreign Office spoke of the first deliveries of Western fighters in the summer months. Regarding the aircraft from the Netherlands, Ollongren assured that the plan for the delivery of 24 Dutch F-16s is on track, without however giving specific dates. According to media reports, the fighters promised by Belgium will probably arrive in 2025while neither the total number nor the delivery schedule has been set for the Norwegian F-16s.
Pilot training
But flying F16s over Ukraine without Western pilots is no easy task. In fact, another delicate issue concerns pilot training, which took longer than initially expected. According to the NYT, twelve Ukrainian pilots – less than a full squadron – will be ready to fly the F-16s by this summer, after 10 months training in Denmark, Great Britain and the United States. Erin Hannigan, spokeswoman for the Arizona National Guard – where the Ukrainians train in the US – said that the first four pilots from Kiev will complete training by the summer. A second group of four other pilots began training in January, while a third group of four airmen are currently attending English-language training. All are expected to complete training between May and August, Hannigan said, although the exact timing depends on the progress of the program. The least experienced group was forming in the UK, where in mid-March ten pilots graduated from RAF flying school for basic flying, ground and English language training. The group will now move on to advanced flight training provided byFrench Air Forcebefore learning to fly F-16 fighter jets.
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