Lessons from Ukrainian F-16 crash will shape US training: Air Force general
Hecker describes ongoing challenges related to Kyiv’s donated fighter jets.
Audrey Decker | September 17, 2024 05:14 PM ET
The U.S. may change its F-16 training program for Ukrainian pilots following an investigation into the fatal crash of one of the country’s donated jets.
“Anything that comes out of that, any preliminary things, we're taking a look at to develop into training, both in Denmark as well as the U.S., to see if there's any changes that we need to make to the training to make sure that this doesn't happen again,” Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa, told reporters Tuesday the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual Air, Space & Cyber conference.
Ukraine hasn’t identified the cause of the crash, which occurred at the end of August during a Russian bombardment and killed a Ukrainian pilot. The country’s defense minister has opened an investigation into the crash and the U.S. has offered its help to investigate, but “we'll see if they take us up on that offer,” Hecker said.
The U.S. and Denmark have been training Ukrainian pilots on an accelerated timeline, which, following the crash, has raised questions about the push to get these pilots flying in combat with relatively few hours compared to Western pilots.
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2024/09/lessons-ukrainian-f-16-crash-will-shape-us-training-air-force-general/399604/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
