Netherlands will not transfer all 42 F-16s to Ukraine, some of them will be used for pilot training, - Minister of Defense, Ollongren
Some F-16 fighters, which the Netherlands will transfer to Ukraine, will be used to train Ukrainian pilots.
This was stated by the Minister of Defense of the Netherlands Kajsa Ollongren in an interview with the EP, Censor.NET informs.
"We have 42 planes, but some of them will go to training, and the rest will go to the AFU," she said.
She explained this by the fact that training for pilots never ends.
"By the way, they will not necessarily be in the Netherlands, now we are considering a training center in Romania.
So these aircraft will be used where the training takes place, which you will always need. As long as you're operating the F-16, you're going to be training new pilots, and you're going to need this training center," Ollongren said.
The minister noted that the Netherlands had been doing it for 40 years.
"In short, you cannot train one batch of pilots and stop training, it must be a continuous process," she concluded.
Earlier, the White House reported that the US supports the decision to provide F-16s to Ukraine after pilot training is completed.
President Zelenskyy, after meeting with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Rutte, said that the transfer of 42 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine after the training of our pilots is being discussed. And the Netherlands and Denmark undertake to transfer F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Ukrainian pilots have already started training in Denmark.
The Prime Minister of Denmark Frederiksen said that the country will provide 19 planes. Denmark plans to send the first 6 units to Ukraine closer to the New Year.
70 pilots and aviators are already undergoing training in Denmark. According to Defense Minister Reznikov, the minimum period of preparation is 6 months. At the same time, the commander of the Air Force stated that two pilots will be able to master the F-16 in four months.
The Air Force stated that 128 fighter jets are needed for air superiority in Ukraine.
The Pentagon said that the US is ready to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 if European countries do not have time. At the same time, the EU can compensate part of the costs of countries that transfer F-16s to Ukraine.
Greece will also join the training of Ukrainian pilots.
