Posted on 07/15/2023 4:10:33 PM PDT by Mariner
Nearly a dozen European countries that pledged this week to train Ukrainian pilots are still waiting on the U.S. to formally approve the program before instruction on American F-16 fighter jets can begin, according to U.S. and European officials involved in the discussions.
A coalition of 11 nations, led by Denmark and the Netherlands, formally agreed to train Ukrainians to fly F-16s and potentially other fighter aircraft at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, this week. European officials have said they hope to begin the program in August in Denmark, and a training center will also be set up in Romania.
But instruction on F-16s can’t actually start until the State Department formally signs off on the request to transfer instruction manuals, flight simulators and other materials associated with the jets — and that hasn’t happened yet.
While President Joe Biden has promised to green-light the program, the formal request “is still being reviewed,” said Lt. Col. Garron Garn, a Pentagon spokesperson, who deferred further questions to the State Department. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
I'm starting to suspect the Pentagon is telling the White Hut, Dept of State and CIA that they are writing checks the Pentagon does not want to cash.
The Pentagon/DoD appears to be the only entity in DC that is reluctant to provoke direct military engagement with Russia.
All pilots will have one, and only one, sortie.
At this point, I suspect that the US is simply waiting for Russia to ‘finish the job’, so the Neocons can get on to their next war, being China.
Biden holding out for more bribes.
“All pilots will have one, and only one, sortie”.
Correct.
“… But instruction on F-16s can’t actually start until the State Department formally signs off on the request to transfer instruction manuals, flight simulators and other materials associated with the jets — and that hasn’t happened yet.…”
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Well, I’m sure the Russians will appreciate getting their hands on this from our corrupt Ukrainian “friends”.
You forgot the javelin, bayraktar drone, cluster bombs, storm shadow, Gephard...
And still to come, the mighty Abrams
The Pentagon/ DoD do not serve the American people or our nation, they serve multinational defense contractors. Those contractors do not want the weakness of USA military technology to be revealed- ergo, no Abrams, no F16. The Patriot has performed miserably as in Yemen- doesn’t help sales. To date, they have done a good job in clearing out European arsenals of native and Soviet stock so that they can come in and provide replacements- in terms of defense industry sales (but not performance) the SMO in the Ukraine has been an unprecedented sales boost. Don’t want to wreck F16V sales by having their predecessor by having them shot down en masse in the Ukraine.
I think we will continue to stall on the training and delivery of the F 16s because they don’t want the embarrassment and publicity of the hardware being destroyed in the pilot’s first sortie. Same with the American tanks promised while they are watching the Leopards Germany delivered being destroyed.
The F-16 is a good platform, but it is not cutting-edge like it once was.
And it’s laughable that Russia is issuing nuclear threats because it says it sees the F-16 as the same as introducing nukes into Ukraine. The SU24 “Fencer” is nuclear-capable, and it is the primary bomber platform in the Ukrainian AF (however, Ukraine has no nukes). So, Russia is just blowing typical Russian smoke, because no Western country is going to give Ukraine nukes.
Russia acts so childish; like bullies generally do.
It’s such a bad idea.
Give them MiGs if anything
The can have the Mohammed Atta reduced training package: take-offs only.
Trump wanted them to have the MiGs that Biden was blocking, did they ever get them?
All will die, it’s a terrible waste.
Lol, they won’t need to land.
Did that dirtbag have something to do with the 93 bombing as well?
Just say no.
(The Pentagon/ DoD do not serve the American people or our nation)
It would have been shorter to leave out “The Pentagon/ DoD do not” and put in “D.C. does not”
1993, bombing, I don’t think so.
Mohammad Atta actually asked the flight school if he could cut the training short, and just learn to take off.
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