France will begin training Ukrainian pilots on Rafale fighter jets next month. The country’s Minister of the Armed Forces, Catherine Vautrin, said this at a parliamentary hearing on Thursday, October 8, UNN reports.
Starting in November, we will begin the first training courses for Ukrainian pilots on Rafale jets, and we clearly see real potential for cooperation and providing solutions
Addendum
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Ukrainian pilots would soon begin training on Rafale aircraft in France.
Last November, at the French Air Force Base in the French city of Vélizy-Villacoublay, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of France Emmanuel Macron signed a declaration of intent on cooperation in Ukraine’s acquisition of defense equipment.
This document will enable Ukraine to purchase military equipment from France’s defense industrial and technological base to modernize the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
First and foremost, this concerns 100 Rafale F4 aircraft by 2035 for Ukraine’s combat aviation, SAMP/T air defense systems, radars for air defense systems, air-to-air missiles, and aerial bombs. The possibility of transferring technology and jointly producing aircraft, with localization in Ukraine, is also envisaged.