The U.S. has approved Denmark's request to provide instructional materials for F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, CNN reported on Aug. 18, citing a Biden administration official and another U.S. official.
"We can confirm the Department has recently approved a request from F-16 training partner Denmark related to their effort to stand up pilot and maintenance training programs," said the official in the U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.
This will include training modules, documentation, and classroom training materials, containing sensitive information on U.S. technology, CNN reported.
Earlier today on Aug. 18, Denmark and the Netherlands confirmed that they had received approval from the U.S. to hand over F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine once pilot training is completed. According to Reuters, U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken backed both the transfer of the jets and training for Ukrainian pilots in a letter to his Danish and Dutch counterparts.
The Danish Defense Ministry confirmed today on Aug. 18 that the training of Ukrainian pilots will begin in Denmark later in August in cooperation with the 11 countries of the "fighter jet coalition."
During the Vilnius NATO summit in July, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced the official formation of a coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, led by Denmark and the Netherlands.
The coalition also plans to conduct training in Romania. While the members have not published a precise timeframe for the training process, the Washington Post reported that according to Ukrainian officials, the first group of six pilots will not finish their training before the summer of 2024.
Martin Fornusek
