Europe Seeks to Speed Up F-16 Training for Ukrainian Pilots

(Bloomberg) -- European allies aim to finalize plans as soon as June to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, Denmark’s acting defense minister said, after the US gave its support.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• McCarthy, Graves Signal Impasse in White House Debt Talks

• World’s Richest Man Loses $11 Billion After LVMH Stock Rout

• Xi Upends the Secretive World of $10,000-an-Hour China Experts

• Luxury Stocks Lose $30 Billion in One Day on Demand Fears

• China’s New Covid Wave Set to See 65 Million Cases a Week

“First we need to talk about training and reeducation and after that we can discuss donations of F-16s,” Troels Lund Poulsen, who is also economic affairs minister, told reporters Tuesday ahead of a gathering of defense counterparts in Brussels.

“My expectation is that in June we will have formalities in place and that we can start training after that,” Poulsen said, adding that it would take as much as six months of training and preparation before Ukrainian pilots can start operating F-16s.

President Joe Biden dropped his reluctance to sending F-16s to Ukraine after months of pressure from Kyiv and allied governments, announcing Friday that the US would support efforts to train Ukrainian pilots to use the fighter jet.

While the training will take place in Europe, it requires US permission because the jet is American-made. No country has yet formally committed to supplying F-16s to Ukraine.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said after Tuesday’s talks that his country is ready to train F-16 pilots. He added that the number of pilots involved would depend “on our possibilities” as Poland has obligations to protect airspace over Poland and also Baltic states.

‘Clear Signal’

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the NATO military alliance, said on arriving for talks with the ministers that he welcomed the F-16 training pledges. “This is an important step that partly will enable us to then deliver fighter jets at some stage but also is sending a very clear signal that we’re there for the long term and that Russia cannot wait us out,” Stoltenberg said.

“We will speed up now as we know we have a green light” on F-16 training, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said earlier Tuesday.

The Danish minister said that in addition to his country, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK have all signaled readiness to formally cooperate on training but that he expected other countries to join.

Asked about providing F-16 training facilities, Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said his government is investigating that option. Pistorius did not provide any details. Germany doesn’t have any F-16s but one possibility could be carrying out training at the US airbase in Ramstein.

Estonia’s Hanno Pevkur drew comparisons between the decision on fighter jets and the initial hesitation by allies to send tanks to Ukraine. He noted that donating fighter jets would be more complex because of the need for airfields, supply chains and pilot training to be in place.

“The sooner we can get ready with this training, and we are ready with this training,” Pevkur said,” I believe that we will see quite soon F-16s in Ukrainian skies.”

--With assistance from Katharina Rosskopf and Arne Delfs.

(Updates with Polish minister’s remarks in sixth paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• The Man Who Spends $2 Million a Year to Look 18 Is Swapping Blood With His Father and Son

• Maasai Are Getting Pushed Off Their Land So Dubai Royalty Can Shoot Lions

• Students Battle Hackers on the Cybersecurity Front Lines

• Apple’s New Headset Meets Reality

• Industrials Defy Deal Doldrums With Strategic Acquisitions

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.