Ukraine Moves a Step Closer to F-16s as Kyiv's 'Top Guns' Graduate (newsweek.com)
A batch of Ukrainian future F-16 fighter pilots have graduated from a British military flight school, putting them one step closer to flying the U.S.-made jets that Kyiv has so long advocated for.
The British Defense Ministry announced on Friday that the first 10 Ukrainian pilots to have undertaken "intensive training" with Royal Air Force instructors had graduated from flight school and will now proceed to an advanced flight training program provided by the French air force. After that, the pilots will be instructed on F-16s
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The U.K. is one member of the Air Capability Coalition—a grouping co-led by the U.S., Denmark and the Netherlands—which is preparing Ukrainian pilots and support personnel to operate F-16s.
The coalition is due to deliver the first batch of combat jets to Ukraine by summer 2024, though the delivery schedule has been repeatedly extended amid political and logistical wrangling.
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