According to an internal document obtained by the Yahoo News portal, the US Air Force has expressed admiration for the Ukrainian pilots' remarkable aptitude in mastering Western F-16 fighter jets.
They believe that these pilots can complete the training program in a relatively short span of four months. This information was cited by Ukraines' European Pravda.
The document in question was shared by the United States with its NATO allies who also operate F-16s. It provides a comprehensive evaluation of two Ukrainian pilots who underwent testing at an air base in Arizona during late February and early March.
It is worth noting that prior to this training, one of the Ukrainian pilots had experience flying the MiG-29, while the other had experience with the Su-27. Neither of them had any prior exposure to the F-16.
The evaluation took place in a simulator environment, where they participated in nine sessions, each lasting approximately 11½ hours. Their performance was closely observed by four experienced instructors from the US Air Force, all of whom possessed extensive flight hours in F-16 aircraft.
The assessment reveals that the Ukrainian pilots demonstrated their ability to execute various "relatively technical" maneuvers within the simulated environments.
Notably, they were able to successfully land the aircraft even after experiencing a flameout, which occurs when the engine's flame in the combustion chamber extinguishes. Additionally, both pilots effectively carried out simulated attacks based on communicated parameters while flying the simulator.
Despite their impressive performance, the US instructors identified a few challenges during the training process. The primary difficulty stemmed from the Ukrainian pilots' lack of familiarity with the avionics (electronic systems) of the F-16, particularly the fact that the information displayed is in English.
Moreover, the language barrier posed a general challenge, although the instructors acknowledged significant improvement in the pilots' English proficiency over the course of two weeks.
Notwithstanding these obstacles, the US Air Force assessment concludes that, given the current skill set exhibited by the Ukrainian Air Force pilots, a training timeline of four months appears to be realistic.
This is a testament to the pilots' adaptability and the effectiveness of the training program provided by the US Air Force instructors.
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