Draken International recruiting F-16 fighter jet instructors to train Ukrainian pilots
18 July, 2023 F-16 Fighting Falcon of the Air Force of Romania. August 2020. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Romania
Draken International has started recruiting F-16 fighter jet instructors to train Ukrainian pilots in Romania. The company notes in its recruitment announcement, that the military instructors will work at the Fetesti Air Base. The company is also hiring other categories of personnel for the pilot training center, including technicians, electricians, and other avionics specialists.
Applicants must have at least 5 years of experience related to the F-16 fighter jet, and those hired will spend between 3 and 19 months in Romania. However, the first Ukrainian Air Force pilots will begin training on F-16 fighter jet in Denmark at the Skrydstrup Air Base.
F-16 Fighting Falcon of the Air Force of Romania. October 2020.
Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Romania
Ray Pizzelli, Vice President of International Relations at Lockheed Martin, announced this. According to Pizzelli, Ukrainian pilots will begin training on the F-16s in August, 2023. It is noted that training in Romania will begin only at the end of 2024.
Initially, training will consist of testing and selection of Ukrainian personnel, language lessons, and later theoretical and practical training. The aim of the program is for Ukrainian pilots to acquire basic skills for flying and maintaining F-16 fighter jets. As previously reported, Draken International has a contract with the U.S. government to play the role of a conditional adversary in Air Force and Navy exercises.
The company also trains fighter jets' pilots.
Draken International. Photo from open sources
The company recently refused from six of the Netherlands' 12 F-16 fighter jets.
It can't be excluded that now these six F-16 fighter jets will be involved in the training of Ukrainian pilots, or in their transfer to Ukraine.
In 2021, the Norwegian government announced that it would also sell its F-16 fighter jets to Draken International.