ARTICLE
Ukrainian pilots start training on F-16 fighters – Defense Minister
Ukrainska Pravda
STANISLAV POHORILOV
Saturday, 19 August 2023, 20:18
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/08/19/7416277/
Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, has said that Ukrainian pilots already started training on Western F-16 fighter jets, with a minimum training period of 6 months.
SOURCE: Reznikov in an interview with Channel 24
QUOTE from Reznikov: “Training on F-16s has already begun.”
DETAILS:
The minister says that in addition to pilots, a certain number of engineers and technicians are also taking part in the exercises.
Reznikov added that the instructors will report on the completion of these exercises when they see how Ukrainian pilots, engineers and technicians perceive new skills and interact with each other.
“This period of training will be spent on continuing the project so as to understand when we will receive the aircrafts – and, most importantly, how many,” Reznikov stressed.
“The minimum period for pilot training is 6 months,” the Minister of Defence of Ukraine added.
BACKGROUND:
-In mid-July, Ukraine signed a memorandum with its 11 partner states at the NATO Summit in Vilnius. The memorandum defines the conditions of training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighters.
-The training was scheduled to begin in August, but media reported the US had not approved the final training plan for a long time because European states have not agreed on all its details. On Friday, the Danish Ministry of Defence confirmed that Ukrainian training on F-16s would begin by the end of August.
On Friday, Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, confirmed Washington’s approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver the F-16s to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots complete their training.
VIDEO: Partisans? saboteurs?
19 Aug: Russians Admit. Ukrainians STRIKE Russian Military Airfield and DESTROY 2 Supersonic Bombers
Divine Justice
172K subscribers
Aug 19, 2023 10:00 p.m. EDT- 11 minutes ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AzpHc2qMG0
Day 542: 19 Aug
Russians Admit. Ukrainians STRIKE Russian Military Airfield and DESTROY 2 Supersonic Bombers
In today’s agenda of the war between Russia and Ukraine, we will witness the historical attacks, explosions and fires that took place in Russia in the last 24 hours.
All these actions seriously affected the course of the war.
While UNEXPECTED events took place at the Novogorod military airbase between Moscow and St Petersburg, anxious hours were passing in the Russian capital.
In addition, the Russian people and army were witnessing a great chaos and desperation today with the striking explosions and actions in the Novorossiysk port on the Black Sea side of Russia, the Moscow Airports and the Novogorod Military Air Base.
Here are the unbelievable details of the last twenty-four hours that have suddenly blocked Russia.
Over the past few months, Russia has REPEATEDLY ACCUSED Ukraine of hitting occupied military targets on Russian soil, for which Kiev often does NOT take direct responsibility.
But Ukraine remained SILENT in the face of allegations that it targeted Crimean cities, the Kerch Bridge and some Russian cities.
Today, a brand new air raid on one of the most important military air bases in the Novogorod Oblast between Moscow and St. Petersburg has eclipsed these claims. All attention suddenly turned to this critical settlement, which is between the two most important cities of Russia.
Moscow reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a drone attack on a military airport in the Novgorod region of northern Russia. After these critical statements, tensions increased significantly in the region.
Images of the smoke rising from the military facility were posted on the internet. At least two Russian Tu-22M3s carrying X-22 missiles were destroyed in this stunning attack.
Officially, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu acknowledged damage to an aircraft. It is possible that the Russian Ministry of Defense has traditionally underestimated their losses. Because, residents of the Novogorod region and some Russian media reported that at least two planes were on fire.
According to data from international services, the Tu-22M3 long-range supersonic missile bombers, which were not damaged at the Russian military base in Novogorod after the attack, were dispatched to Olenya, Murmansk Region.
In total, according to the monitoring groups, there were about 10 Tu-22M3 units at the airport.
While Russia bombed Mariupol city of Donetsk in 2022, Tupolev deployed these Tu-22M3 type warplanes to Novogorod military base.
Although the Russians acted comfortably in this regard, thinking that the Ukrainians have not attacked this military base or Novogorod until now, the shocking attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have also destroyed these taboos of Russia.
So why did the Russians think that the Ukrainian forces would not target Novgorod?
The Novgorod region lies between Moscow and St Petersburg and unlike Russia’s border regions has not been targeted since the beginning of the war. According to local media reports, the airspace targeted in the attack was in the town of Soltsy, about 80 miles southwest of the region’s capital, Veliky Novgorod. The distance from the borders of Ukraine to Soltsy is at least 675 km.
The Russians thought that this distance would not pose a great danger. But in fact, Ukrainians have Soviet-era jet-powered UAVs with a range that can exceed 1000 kilometers.
In addition, with regard to UAVs, Ukrainians have the capacity to reach much more than such distances with local production and Western support.
We think that the fact that Novogorod has not been targeted until now has pushed the Russians not to take any action in this regard, but Ukraine seems to have managed to teach Moscow a historical lesson with surprise attacks.
Novogorod is not the only place where Russia has learned lessons on the Ukrainian attacks. Russian cities are almost completely on fire these days. Ukraine ‘s attacks this time hit the heart of Russia. Explosions were also heard yesterday in Odintsovo, Trekhgorka and Krasnogorsk near Moscow. It was stated that the cause of the explosions was drone attacks.
For the first time, all Moscow airports were closed due to the drone attack. It is reported that the work of all four airports in Moscow is currently completely suspended. Due to the closure of Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky airports, the routes of seven flights have changed.