Ihnat: Ukrainian pilots to start flying with instructors on real F-16 aircraft in few weeks

"There were some far-fetched reports about the infrastructure because F-16 and F-15 landed in Ukraine in 2012 and 2018. As we have military operations ongoing, we will not build the infrastructure as in peacetime so that everything there shines beautifully, we need it to work, so that a plane can land on the runway, so that there are shelters for it, so that the enemy cannot destroy it there, etc. Well, the means of controlling that plane, communication – we are working on this, Ukraine is doing its homework. The main thing is that we have been waiting a long time for this green light, now it’s lit, it is only a matter of time. It is clear that it is not easy to retrain on a Western fighter from the Soviet one, which was designed back in 1970, so it takes a little time. Even if it is spring, it’s not much time to wait till spring. It is clear that it is difficult at the front, but we have to wait," Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said during the United News telethon, commenting on the readiness of the Ukrainian infrastructure for the use of F-16 aircraft.

The spokesman emphasized that Ukraine had a long-term plan for the re-equipment of the entire aircraft fleet.

"We have a long-term plan of cooperation with partners. We will not replace it [aircraft fleet] at once, and the re-equipment of the aircraft fleet will happen in 2025, 2026, 2030. We will leave everything Soviet in the Soviet Union, in Russia, and we will adopt everything new, from air defense systems to aircraft," the spokesman emphasized.

Commenting on the issue of training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jets, Ihnat noted that this process was progressing quite successfully.