At the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's defense in the Ramstein format on February 14, the coalition will present a report on the preparation of F-16 fighters for the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Head of the Mission of Ukraine to NATO Natalia Galibarenko told journalists in Brussels on February 13, UNN reports with reference to Hromadske Radio.
Details
She emphasized that preparations are underway at several levels.
"There are several components. That is, not only the maintenance of the machine itself, but also the training of pilots: skills, English. Plus, there is a huge layer of training for the personnel who will service the aircraft. This was also launched somewhere along with the pilots, at the same level. Plus, there is also the preparation of certain infrastructure. Because not all of our runways are ready for this," Galibarenko said.
At the same time, Galibarenko noted that there is no delay in the schedule, and the first aircraft for the Ukrainian Air Force are expected in the spring of 2024.
Tomorrow (February 14 - Ed.) there will be a meeting in the Ramstein format, and there will be a report from the F-16 coalition on how it is going. So I think that after tomorrow's meeting (February 14 - ed.), there may be some more detailed information, but right now everything is on track. And spring of 2024 is one of the realistic deadlines that we have mentioned
Addendum
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reportedthat Ukraine is actively preparing the infrastructure to service F-16 fighter jets and hopes to receive them as soon as possible.
Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, reported that future F-16 fighters will certainly be a target for the occupiers. Therefore, serious preparations are underway to adapt the infrastructure for the aircraft.
In an interview with the Voice of America, a Ukrainian pilot with the call sign "Phantom" saidthat training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s is going on as planned. Ukrainian pilots are impressed with the planes.
It is already known that the Netherlands is planning to transfer 24 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine.