The US is working with Ukrainian pilots in the United States to determine how long it would take to train them to fly F-16 fighter jets, three sources briefed on the matter told CNN. CNN's Natasha Bertrand reports. #CNN #News
US evaluating Ukrainian pilots for possible F-16 training
I hope this has been happening for the last 6 months.
IT HAS IN THE UK AND POLAND BUT SADLY EVERYONE ELSE WAS SCARED …JUST LIKE WORLD WAR 2 🇧🇧🌻🇬🇧🇹🇷
😂
Theyve been training in u.s and some already graduated. Its not secret.
Godwilling
Once they get these jets and the tanks they can take back mariupol AND Crimea! Slava Ukraine!
I don’t see Russia giving up Sevastopol, it’s to essential to it’s global strategic presence.
I also don’t see Ukraine give up Crimea, nor should it it owns both Crimea and all the resources found on and around it.
I think in the end a 3rd party will have to give some security guarantees but even then why would Ukraine allow a Russian military base on it’s soil after their invasion?
Crimea is the toughest nut in the whole war… well geopolitically. If you’re talking miles of trenches earthworks and fortifications, then the Donbass.
Ukraine’s best course of action would be Marioepol then Melitopol and straight to the start of Crimea. But we know that bottleneck will be very very very fortified and while Russia seems to be building lots of trenches on the Crimea beaches, Ukraine doesn’t really have an amphibious landing capacity.
Exactly – but only after it rains unicorns.
Also the Netherlands could & should support with F16’s
And Germany‘s Luftwaffe should provide Prigozhin and his Wagner troops with a special air support by blowing them up sky-high with a Tornado strike!
@ToughGuyver I’m thinking this war may just have saved Germany’s butte from becoming so totally saturated & dependent on Russia.
ΜΔЯΤIΔИ
Holland is NATO, they should wait for NATO command, is there a need for F16 Falcon jets ?
You should study the F16 first, they need good landingstrips, you should fly them in from the EU only.
If the Ukraine needs an Airforce, the F18 is the Jet they can use themselves, they can’t use the F16 on their runways !
You never need another Karremans !
@ToughGuyver prigozjin is the devil
@lucas Rem
Figure training will take a third of the time it takes to train someone who’s nation isn’t being bombed by the orcs. Throw out your peacetime schedules. Give’em the A10s and the F117s too…
Give them the f-117? Are u crazy? If that’s the case if them f35s & f22s. You do know the f117 is a stealth plane. Equal to the f35 and f22 just without the speed.
Why yall promote War is the real question 🤔
JAS 39 Gripens would be better.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttt, Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtttt 🔥 😂
What amazes me is just how many men are willing to die for Putin. ☹️
@Bert Rich those are prisoners who are promised freedom if they fight in battlfield for 6 months
@SameWaveLength They forgot to mention to them that the front line average life is less then 24 hrs.. GL on hitting 6 months. Russia just got knocked back another 30 years thanks to putin.
And Zelenskyy
It’s not like the Ukrainian pilots don’t know how to fly
All they need is instruction on how to use the HUD and weapons systems of the F-16
The F-16 isn’t a stealth aircraft, it will use the same kinds of tactics that Ukraine currently employs with MIGs
Radar is radar, range may vary
Just as range of weapon effectiveness may vary
The day of dog fights died out decades ago
These days it is see the enemy first and shoot first, survive
That’s what’s being assessed.
Gee, that sounds pretty SIMPLE. Maybe we should get all of our private pilots certified on the type.
It’s the whole concept of NATO cockpits being fundamentally different from Warsaw Pact legacy cockpits that is the issue here. The Brits are already training Ukrainian pilots on generic NATO cockpits, i.e. not specific to one type of aircraft, but indicative of the thinking behind the man-machine interface in NATO air defence systems. This will take some time, because it is an entirely different approach to what those guys have been getting trained on since early flight school.
Ukraine air force is not needing the F16, you can’t use them on their runways, F18 is better for them.
NATO can still use them on their airfields, fly them in and back.
Zelensky is right… Bakhmut may not have a major strategic value but it has a tremendous value for the morale of the Ukrainians and the Russians. If Ukraine can stop the Russians in their tracks and even push them back then that would provide a tremendous incitement to Ukrainians everywhere to continue their fight to push Russians completely out of all occupied territory in Ukraine. It is also a killing ground with estimates of 3 to 4 times more Russians killed than Ukrainians.
@Andrey T excellent propaganda Igor, i do wish it were in our favor, but we have plenty of fodder before i can get nervous, what’s 200,000+ lol
I don’t think he’s right there’s 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers fighting to defend bakhmut and the Russians are just over a kilometer or so from closing the cauldron and if that happens there will be a lot of soldiers lost either if they have to fight out of the cauldron or have a relieving force come in to try and cut a path out for them. It might be better to fall back to kramatorsk or some other position that might be easier to defend
@Omar El-esaawy I think you are missing my point here. I dont disagree a smaller force can win battles, of course its happened. But that is generally only the case if you either have a huge technology and equipment advantage or catch the enemy off guard and either annihilate them quickly or force a rapid retreat, which leads to my second point…
Russia is not sneaking up and catching anyone by surprise in Bakhmut lol. It is literally the center of the war at the moment. And if you remember, I specifically said you need a 3 to 1 advantage IF…”you are fighting a capable defending force”, which Ukraine absolutely is. They have become a near peer of Russia on the battlefield now. This ain’t 2014 Ukraine using only soviet weapons. This is a completely different fighting force, with NATO tech and training, and they have been dug in and waiting. Has Russia been gaining recently? Yes. Do you know why? Because they are throwing bodies at the problem day in a day out, which is historically a very Russian thing to do, just go a look at history lol.
Russia has the same philosophy now that they did in WWII. They are taking massive casualties, and the ground they gain is by walking on the backs of their dead comrades. So yes, In a battle like this, when the Ukrainians know you are coming, are of equal capability, and they are entrenched, well you better have superior numbers at a minimum of 3 to 1 because you are absolutely going to have more casualties than they do. See D-Day, Iwo Jima, etc, for reference lol. Cheers 🙂
@Andrey T ROFL ok comrade
For decades Russia has given the appearance of an impenetrable fortress immune to air attack, but it now appears they have sufficient air defense for a single combat theater or the homeland, but not both, and much of that capability has been destroyed in the past several months.
Correct: pootin has sacrificed a big chuck of russian national security for nothing, so far.
You watch too much CNN…
@Baaliwood LOL says the russian troll
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” …
Winston Churchill…
Perhaps ‘Air Superiority’ is essential for Ukraine to win decisively on the battlefield.
“Perhaps ‘Air Superiority’ is essential for Ukraine to win decisively on the battlefield.”
Ukraine already has 105 jets and their worthless pilots do not use them.
@Raging Monk How do you know?
@Michael Runnels It was covered in Forbes like a week ago.
Quoting Churchill makes me think of Dunkirk, and puts things in a strategic perspective.
It is sadly the same situation as in Mariupol as the West dragging their feet while the brave Ukrainian soldiers are dying for their homeland..Slava Ukrainii. Who gives s___ about the death of orcs but the death of even 1 Ukrainian soldier is the loss of the West
FINALLY! And I say – regardless if Ukraine get or won´t get the F-16, it is WISE to train them. I hope the war ends before they are needed, but I am afraid of delays and stuff, and then in September the west might give 8 planes, and then they say it will take 6 more months to train….
TRAIN THEM NOW! Then you have the option to faster put them to use if needed.
Slava Ukraina!
I will be blunt honest,I am proud being American and also marine brat yet my step dad is Air Force vet and grandpa also Air Force .. I completely Impressed with Ukraine army and pilots , they are very brilliant and great army who can adjust everything , learned quickly wih all what we allies can provided and trained..
The F-16 system brings together about 20 highly skilled jet mechanics to keep it in the air. Each plane has its own crew chief and crew. IT TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND MONEY TO ORGANIZE A FIGHTING TEAM.
Yeah. If they want to deploy the F16 in UA they better be training crews now. Experienced pilots can probably transition faster than the crews.
Other crews and maintenance are being trained in Poland since it is one of the most used aircraft in Europe outside of the typhoon. The logistics for that aircraft are much better than any other granted air defense systems are stacked so thick on both sides any aircraft is at a huge risk. (Aside from US stealth craft, which will never be sent unless we were directly involved )
Stop stalling
If the agreed premise between NATO members is Ukraine must win this war, then F-16 and/or other fighter jets is an absolute given. There should not be any more procrastinations at this juncture. Time is of essence and Ukraine will need air superiority as well as more planes to unleash those 2,000lbs JDAMs. I really like this information I really like this information
It`s always a pleasure to listen to the General`s expertise. He`s spot on as always. Appreciated!!! Thanks!!!
I’ll trust the commanders on the ground as to when to pull…or not. The Ukrainian commander of all ground forces was there just a couple of days ago. You can bet he had detailed discussions with all his key subordinate commanders. Further, his own eyes looked into the eyes of his commanders and troops. If Ukraine’s leadership is good with their decisions to stay and fight, Slava Ukraine! I prefer Bakhmut to remain Russia’s killing field if possible but I’d most prefer those 5,000 miles away to shut their mouths about what they really, really don’t know.
Bakmut is like the fort of St Elmo in the great siege of Malta. By holding it as long as possible with a 7-1 kill ratio, the enemy is degraded so much that it loses the ability to win the war.
Hell yeah.. not far from Tucson.. 60 miles away.. I see those jets at night and at 1 in the afternoon. Before the War the jets were never this intense. But now Airshow everyday and night . Intense combat by the sounds of the jet and flares.
F-16s require an incredibly long chain of logistics, maintenance, weapons, facilities etc. not to mention pilots that must be trained (which is usually a 2 year minimum process to get a basic bare bones baby pilot not even an experienced war fighter)… so I’m really confused why the media is pushing this so damn hard.
The F-16 Falcon’s an aging fighter, but it’s formidable. If Ukraine attains a fleet of these fighters, the war will come to an end seeing how well they utilize their weapons.