Posted on 07/01/2025 7:32:41 AM PDT by whyilovetexas111
The chief obstacle in preparing these pilots so far has been language training. The cockpit audio system of the F-16 that provides important warning messages to the pilot only “speaks” English.
Any pilots not completely fluent in the language will be handicapped—and possibly also in danger—if they lack the required level of fluency.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalsecurityjournal.org ...
Way to go to waste billions! 🙄
The jets are TOO EXPENSIVE to let Ukrainians fly them in combat, so I have trouble believing the Neocons when they claim there are no NATO pilots flying them.
If a jet costs $50 million dollars, why can’t someone pay a few hundred for a language translation or translator?
English is the language of pilots. If you don’t know English you should not fly.
About a quarter of Ukrainians speak English, and I’d imagine that’s much higher for the young, highly trained pilots in the military.
Strap an iPhone to the console set on google-translate.
Probably wouldn’t work at Mach 2 though....
The F-16 has been exported to many countries and those countries have put the plane into service.
English is the international language of aviation. I would think most Ukranian pilots (if not all) speak English.
Learning English is a requirement for all NATO military officers.
I can only guess, but it seems that anyone smart enough to fly a fighter jet could master the limited “vocabulary” of F16 emergency warnings, call-outs, and numbers. It’s not going to involve a free-wheeling conversation about esoteric subjects.
This bs article wouldn’t be selling a cover story for something else, would it...?
This is kinda like an inverse-Firefox. (That movie with Clint Eastwood).
“You must think RUSSIAN!”
Correct!
Also, altitude is in feet or flight levels.
Airspeed is in knots.
Dials use numbers.
Altimeter setting can be set in inches of mercury or millibars.
Note: ruzzian aircraft that are exported have placards in ruzzian and english.
Here's a notional F-16 cockpit.
Yew, we also trained Iranian pilots in the 70s, and yes, they all had to speak English.
Maintainers in most nations have a working knowledge of technical English.
(Which is one of the reasons most Arab nations use UK and US expats as maintenance personnel. Also they just suck at maintenance.).
Yep, Russia used to use meters, and not feet, for altitude, but even they have transitioned. (and are still transitioning) to using feet for altitude.
Any fighter pilot who wants to live had better instinctively know where every instrument is located, what it is for and what it means.
When the lady starts telling him things, he better instinctively know why that lady is there in the first place, under what kind of situation she will ever speak to him and what it is she is saying.
Because the software would cost millions more to provide the translations. This isn’t web site software.
There may not be a translator (yet) for the military terms used.
One of my friends, Bill St. Amour (may he R.I.P.) was an Army Major, Russian - English translator during the SALT talks.
He found there was no dictionary of military and diplomatic terms, so he wrote the book.
There may be the same problem with Ukranian.
Thats what I thought. Built in security, gotta know the language.
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