Zelenskyy called for expanding training for Ukrainian F-16 pilots

F-16 fighter / Photo from open sources

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at the Ukraine-NATO Council with a call to expand the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets to strengthen the country's defense capabilities. He also emphasized the importance of providing the necessary number of aircraft to confront the Russian Federation.

The head of state wrote about this on the social network H.

Commenting on the provision of military aircraft promised to Ukraine by the members of the «Fighter Coalition», the head of state noted the importance of a sufficient number of such aviation equipment. That it should be at least half of the number of aircraft that the Russian Federation uses for the war with Ukraine.

«We need enough F-16s. Russia uses about 300 combat aircraft; we need at least half of that. It is necessary to expand training missions for pilots,» Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.

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He explained that waiting for that many aircraft, including training the staff, would probably take some time.

«How many years will we have to wait for half of the 300 aircraft at the current rate of delivery and training?» he wrote.

The Ukrainian president also emphasized that the war «should not last so long.»

«And in the case of the F-16, it's not up to us,» he added.

Earlier it was reported that by the end of the year, Ukraine will receive six F-16 fighters from Norway.

The Netherlands also allocates another 300 million euros for the purchase of ammunition for F-16 fighters, which the country will soon hand over to Ukraine.

Denmark has already undertaken to train up to a hundred Ukrainian specialists to maintain F-16 fighters, and half of them have already been trained — they are participating in the training of the first aircraft in Ukraine.