The first F-16 fighters may appear in Ukraine in the spring of 2024. About 150 aircraft would be enough to effectively protect the airspace.
This was stated by the spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yurii Ihnat, on the air of the telethon, TSN writes.
"The dates are announced by every official in Europe or in the USA, opinion leader or government official, they all have different dates. For now, we are relying on the spring, because if the process of training our pilots has already started with aviation instructors, then in principle, I think, we can count on those statements made by the Ukrainian authorities," Ihnat said.
According to him, Ukraine wants to get fighters "as soon as possible, and it will not be possible to get anything faster than the F-16."
"That's why we look forward to our pilots from training. The training process is really not easy, the infrastructure preparation is not easy, the engineer training is also not easy," the spokesman noted.
Ihnat emphasizes that a total of one and a half hundred modern fighter jets could effectively protect the airspace of Ukraine.
"One and a half hundred is the number that would allow us to protect our country, its airspace. This is in the future, when we will replace the entire fleet of Soviet outdated (both morally and physically) equipment with F-16, possibly another type of aircraft, for example Gripen," he added.
It will be recalled that the day before, the US Ambassador confirmed the start of training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 in Arizona.
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