First group of Ukrainian pilots complete French jet training

The first cohort of Ukrainian pilots have completed Alpha Jet training in France, the French Armed Forces announced on Sept. 20.

The French Air Force has been training Ukrainian pilots since March 2024 as part of the international coalition to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, which was founded at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023.    

Kyiv has been calling for its partners to provide F-16s jets since the very first year of the full-scale war in order to bolster its fleet of aircraft, which is otherwise made up of Soviet-made planes.

While Ukraine has been promised nearly 80 jets from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway, the training of new pilots has been considered one of the main bottlenecks for expanding Ukraine's F-16 capabilities.

The French Armed Forces wrote on X that the Alpha Jet training program shows "France's firm support for the Ukrainian war effort," but did not provide further details.

French newspaper Le Monde reported in June that the French Air Force had committed to training 26 Ukrainian pilots.

This number is significant as the French Air Force usually certifies around 30 pilots a year, after up to five years of training.

The program began in March with 10 Ukrainian pilots, who are training using Alphajets fitted with a panel that simulates the instruments in the cockpit of an F-16, Le Monde said.

A group of Ukrainian pilots also recently arrived in Romania to start training on F-16 fighter jets, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Sept. 12.

Other Ukrainian pilots have undergone training in the U.S. or Denmark, though Copenhagen said it would not provide instructions to Ukrainian aviators on its territory past 2024.

After F-16 crash, West debates rushed training for Ukrainian pilots, WSJ reports

The training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s has been happening at an accelerated pace. Ukraine’s pilot training program is ongoing, but “the crash shows what happens when you try to rush things,” an unnamed senior defense official told the WSJ.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova