Denmark to stop training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in 2025
25 June, 2024 F-16 fighter pilot of the Danish Air Force. Photo credits: flymag.dk By the end of this year, Denmark will stop training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.
The Danish defense minister said this during a joint press conference with his Norwegian counterpart Bjorn Arild Gram. Poulsen explained that the training of Ukrainian pilots will stop because Denmark is switching to F-35 fighter jets. The new planes will be deployed at the Skrydstrup air base, where Ukrainian pilots are currently training.
According to him, almost 20 Ukrainian F-16 pilots will be trained before the end of the training program in late 2024.
F-35 fighter jets of Denmark with numbers L-001-L004.
2021, USA. Photo credits: Danish Ministry of Defense
In addition, Denmark will continue to contribute to the training of Ukrainian pilots, but this will not take place in the country. "Today, Ukrainian pilots are also undergoing training in Romania, but we have not yet decided whether Denmark will contribute to this," said Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
On August 20, 2023, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that the country plans to send 19 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky recently said that Danish F-16s would arrive in Ukraine shortly.
Volodymyr Zelensky and Mette Frederiksen in front of a Danish F-16 fighter jet. August 2023, Denmark.
Photo credits: Office of the President of Ukraine
Eight Ukrainian tactical aviation pilots began their training in Denmark in August 2023. In addition to pilots, another 65 specialists must undergo training in the maintenance and repair of this type of aircraft.
F-16 fighter jets of the Royal Danish Air Force.
Photo credits: RDAF
Denmark has pledged to transfer 19 aircraft to F-16, which in the 2000s were upgraded under the Mid-Life Update (MLU) program.
Future Ukrainian fighters during the MLU program underwent significant repairs and received, in particular, a more modern AN/APG-66(V)2 radar.