Lockheed will not train Ukrainian F-16 pilots

The United States did not request the Lockheed Flight Center to train Ukrainian pilots, even though there were problems with the training timing at its own training centers.

The company’s representatives shared this with Defence One.

Lockheed Martin’s European Pilot Training Center in Romania just graduated the first group of eight F-16 fighter pilots and is set to begin training more soon.

The company said it is looking to expand the training course and double the number of pilots in each group to meet the demand of US allies.

“We could probably do upwards of 30 to 40” pilots per year with expansions, Frank St. John, Lockheed’s chief operating officer, told Defense One.

St. John said the center is ready to train Ukrainian pilots if asked to. However, despite this opportunity, the US government has not yet signed the relevant contracts with Lockheed.

“As Ukraine and the U.S. government determine the best approach for training Ukrainian pilots, if they determine that doing that in the Romanian center is the right approach, then we’ll follow their lead and do that,” he stated.

Having received the first F-16 fighter jets, Ukraine is preparing to further deploy new squadrons. However, in addition to technical problems, the country also needs to address human resources issues, including training new pilots for these aircraft.

Currently, training is slower than the pace of fighter jet delivery. The main training centers for Ukrainian pilots are located in the United States and Denmark, but the former has limited capacity due to the need to train its own pilots, while the latter will complete training for F-16 pilots this year.

To solve this problem, the Ukrainian government plans to hire foreign retired pilots to pilot the transferred F-16s until Ukrainian pilots complete their training.

“We just talked to Zelensky: if you’re a retired F-16 pilot looking to fight for freedom, they will hire you here. They’re going to look throughout NATO nations for willing fighter pilots who retired to come help them until they can get their pilots trained. We are looking for pilots who will fight for freedom,” American politician Lindsey Graham stated after a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Some retired pilots previously publicly supported this initiative. In March 2023, retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Dan Hampton said he was “ready to fly the plane for the Ukrainian military himself, if necessary.”