In the US, the news remained largely under the radar. The plan is part of a much larger plan that sets the Pentagon’s funding for the coming year. There is also a hurdle to overcome with the Senate. But the Ukrainians are without a doubt. “Ukrainian pilots are trained in the US in F15 and F16 aircraft,” said a government official.
These pilots are trained for a reason. And so speculation has also started again about how and when the Ukrainian Air Force will be helped with new fighter jets. The Ukrainians still fly with Migs equipped with outdated Soviet technology.
Escalation
America was always reluctant. The White House fears that Ukrainian pilots will use American equipment to attack Russian areas as well. That would cause a major escalation. An earlier plan to send Polish Migs to Ukraine in exchange for American F16s fell because of this.
The Senate is not expected to vote on the budget and therefore the training plan until September. Even if that hurdle has been overcome, it will still be some time before Ukrainian pilots can fly American planes. The training lasts several months, and maintenance of the aircraft must also be arranged. In the meantime, it will have to be determined which f16s and f15s will go to Ukraine. It seems likely that these will then be supplied via an ally.
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