Air Force spox reveals details behind training center for Ukrainian war pilots in Romania

A training center in Romania for Ukrainian F-16 pilots is now under construction and will be used by other countries, too.

That’s according to Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman for the Air Force Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, who spoke on the air of the national telethon, reports Ukrinform.

"There is no training in Romania (for Ukrainian pilots manning F-16 fighter jets - ed.). So we’ll wait when this happens. When training and combat aircraft are transferred to the future center that is being formed and built in Romania, it doesn’t mean that the pilots are already training there. Pilots are training, indeed, without any doubt, and this is happening both in the USA and in Europe. And the fact that a center is being created in Romania, next to Ukraine, where both our pilots and other pilots from NATO member states will be able to (to train - ed. )... There are not many centers where pilots can be trained, so other countries will also use it," Ihnat said.

The spokesman for the Air Forces Command added that similar centers would be created in Ukraine in both wartime and peacetime. According to him, the training of pilots is a continuous process, starting with the training of cadets and on to the training of pilots already within brigades.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Dutch Minister of Defense Kajsa Ollongren, said that their Air Force is sending the first F-16 fighter jets to Romania on November 7 to train Ukrainian pilots.