WASHINGTON — The U.S. will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, beginning at an Air National Guard base in October, the Pentagon said Thursday.
The training is part of a U.S. and European effort to get the advanced fighter jets to Ukraine for its defense against invading Russian forces.
American military officials stress it takes years of training to be able to field F-16 squadrons, limiting the impact the aircraft will have on Ukraine’s defense for the near future.
“This is about the long-term support to Ukraine,” the Pentagon spokesman, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, told reporters in Washington. “This is not about the counteroffensive that they’re conducting right now.”