Ukraine already has schedules for the delivery of F-16 aircraft from partner countries, but they are long-term.
This was stated by the deputy head of the Office of the President, Ihor Zhovkva, reports RBC-Ukraine with reference to Radio Liberty.
He noted that the Air Force really needs 128 aircraft, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier. According to him, Ukraine has a declared number from its partners regarding the number of aircraft. That's four countries and a known number they promise.
"Unfortunately, in some countries, the delivery schedule is quite long. For example, Belgium has declared 30 aircraft, and this is in our security agreement with Belgium. But it says that these 30 aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2028, which is obviously unacceptable to us, Zhovkva said.
The deputy head of the President's Office also added that an important issue is the increase in the number of training centers for pilots. According to him, pilots should conduct combat tactics in accordance with the type of aircraft on which they will work.
"The F-16 is a completely different battle tactic. That is why we are talking about this, and the corresponding statement about the F-16, which was made during the summit (Washington NATO Summit. - ed.), it is said that the partners will work on increasing the number of places for Ukrainian pilots," said the head of the OP.-
Zhovkva added that this applies not only to pilots, but also to the engineering staff, optimization, i.e., reduction of training time.
"In wartime, we can't afford to go through this long period of training as prescribed, maybe in the textbooks. We can optimize it," he said.-
The deputy head of the President's Office also noted that during the NATO summit, President Zelenskyy had meetings with the leaders of the partner countries that agreed to supply the planes.
"We discussed these complex issues with the leaders who supply us with planes. The president had a meeting with the new Prime Minister of the Netherlands, and there were relevant meetings with other leaders. Of course, this was also discussed during the meeting with President Biden, because the role of the USA is also very important in terms of supplying aircraft," Zhovkva emphasized.-
Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 13/07/2024