Ukrainian partners have promised to provide Ukraine with more F-16 aircraft than they have trained pilots for.
This was stated by the head of the Servant of the People faction, member of the Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, David Arakhamia, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing a telethon broadcast.
Arakhamia explained that Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and other allies have already promised twice as many aircraft as Ukraine has trained pilots and engineers to service Western aviation.
Commenting on the slow pace of aircraft deliveries, Arakhamia emphasized that this should be treated with understanding, as it is still a record time. In non-war times, the delivery time for aircraft is always five to six years, but in the case of Ukraine, it is currently one year.
“Now the number of aircraft promised to us... is already twice as many as the number of trained pilots and engineers who can service them. That is, we have a bottleneck now - not planes, but people,” Arakhamia said.
He noted that the Ukrainian delegation to the United States tried to “move the queue” from other countries from the training grounds where pilots are trained.
Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 18/07/2024