Ukrainian Air Force pilots to join first wave” of F-16 training in Romania

Ukrainian pilots will be part of the “first wave” of F-16 training at new Romanian training centers.

At a joint press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “there is an extremely important decision to train F-16 pilots in Romania.”

“A pilot training center is being set up, and we discussed with Mr. President how to speed up such training and agreed that Ukrainian pilots would be included in the first wave of training,” Zelensky said.

He added that he informed Iohannis about the situation on the battlefield and defense needs.

“There will be good news regarding artillery and air defense systems, thank you very much for that,” Zelensky said.

In August, Romania stated that it was waiting for the necessary documents to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.

At that time, the head of the Romanian government said that all the logistics for the exercise had already been prepared.

Previously, the Romanian media reported that an air base in Romania had been chosen for the training of Ukrainians, and the expected month of the start of the training was August.

Denmark is also planning to expand the coalition to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. This initiative includes training more Ukrainian pilots to fly these fighter jets.

The Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, announced this on October 9, 2023, at the plenary session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

The Danish authorities will also need to prepare special permits, infrastructure, and logistics chains that will enable the F-16 to be delivered to Ukraine.

In late September, the United States began training Ukrainian pilots to master the F-16 fighter jets.