Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has been asking for Western fighter jets. In Arizona, two Ukrainian pilots are allowed to train on US military simulators - but not for F-16 jets, only for their own machines. According to one report, the training should be about something else.
According to government sources, the US military is training two Ukrainian pilots on flight simulators. The aim is to train the two pilots on their own military aircraft, not on American F-16s, said a representative of the US Department of Defense. The drills at a base in Arizona state were designed to help Ukrainian pilots hone their skills. At the same time, the possibilities for advising the Ukrainian air force should be improved.
Similar training programs were recently run by other allies of Ukraine. The United States recently reiterated its no to the delivery of fighter jets, despite Ukraine's urging. However, the US broadcaster CNN, citing three people familiar with the matter, reports that the training of the two Ukrainian pilots is apparently also intended to determine how long it would take to train Ukrainians for use on US fighter jets - including F- 16 jets - to train. Their abilities would also be tested for this.
The debate about the delivery of Western fighter jets to Ukraine has been smoldering for some time. Most recently, the Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš called on the states supporting Kiev to make such machines available. "The delivery of fighter jets is only a matter of time. I don't see why the West shouldn't deliver fighter jets," he told Der Spiegel. "If Ukrainians need fighter jets, they should get them," he said.
US President Joe Biden ruled out the delivery of fighter jets in a TV interview at the end of February. In view of the demands of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Biden said: "He doesn't need an F-16 now." From the point of view of the US military, there is currently no reason to make the fighter planes available. But one cannot know what will be needed in one, two or three years, the President replied when asked whether he ruled out the delivery of fighter jets for the future. "I'm ruling it out for now," Biden said.
