Belgium to hand over F-16 fighters sooner than planned

The Council of Ministers of Belgium decided to send the first F-16 fighters to Ukraine in 2024.

This was reported by BRF with reference to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Earlier, the country planned to transfer the first F-16 fighters no earlier than 2025, but due to a strong increase in pressure on the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Russian Federation, the country decided to revise these plans.

“We decided to transfer the entire F-16 fleet to Ukraine in the medium term” – said the Minister.

It should be noted that the minister did not say when exactly the aircraft will be sent to Ukraine, but at the same time he noted that this process will be accelerated.

In general, Belgium plans to transfer the first fighters to Ukraine by the end of 2024, which will allow it to support Ukraine as quickly as possible in its struggle.

As previously reported, in addition to Belgium, the fighters are planned to be transferred from Norway, the Netherlands, as well as Denmark.

Also, two groups of Ukrainian pilots have already advanced in exercises on F-16 fighters in the USA and Denmark, where they hone their piloting skills.

In parallel, in the United Kingdom there is training of Ukrainian cadets who will receive initial flight training.

Earlier, Militarnyi reported that in March 2024, ten Ukrainian pilots completed initial flight training in the United Kingdom.

They completed initial training, which will allow them to transfer to the combat training version of the F-16 aircraft.

In general, during initial flight training, pilots were trained in basic aircraft control skills, instrument flight, low altitude navigation, and formation flight.