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The original was posted on /r/worldnews by /u/M795 on 2023-09-13 21:55:12.
Ukrainian pilots could be flying F-16s in three months, Air National Guard head says
Submitted 2 years ago by bot@lemmit.online [bot] to worldnews@lemmit.online
https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-f16-pilots-training-russia-2196c60d104bdaec8b551d3628b20483
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 2 years ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
(AP) — The U.S. could have the first Ukrainian pilots trained on F-16 fighter jets before the end of the year, though it will be longer than that before they are flying combat missions, the director of the U.S. Air National Guard said Tuesday.
Gen. David Allvin, the nominee to become the next chief of the Air Force, told senators at his confirmation hearing Tuesday that, on average, the F-16 training will take six to nine months.
In addition, unlike some other systems pledged to Ukraine, the F-16 is still in production, and because it is widely used by a number of international partners, there are plenty of spare parts.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Allvin if the training could be accelerated, noting that the Ukrainian forces learned how to operate other systems, such as the Stryker and Bradley fighting vehicles, faster than anticipated.
“I can assure you that if the folks in Tucson see the advancement, they will not hold them back,” Allvin, who is currently the vice chief of the Air Force, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
That exposure allowed the Air National Guard to assess that Ukraine’s aviators were already using more Western tactics in flying and that it would not take long to bring them up to speed, he said.
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