U.S. Won't Block F-16s to Ukraine

[applegrove]

U.S. Won’t Block F-16s to Ukraine

May 18, 2023 at 6:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 13 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2023/05/18/u-s-wont-block-f-16s-to-ukraine/

"SNIP.......

“The Biden administration has signaled to European allies in recent weeks that the US would allow them to export F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine,” CNN reports.

........SNIP"

[PortTack]

1. That's great...but I understand it takes a trained jet fighter pilot a year to learn the F-16

Hopefully this illegal invasion will be over b4 that

[ColinC]

4. Supposedly they've been in training since March

which would mean they would have pilots available early-ish next year.

[GregariousGroundhog]

14. Ukraine had a couple of pilots in the U.S. to evaluate training

Ukraine sent two pilots to the United States back in March and the two countries were evaluating how long it would take a Ukrainian pilot to realistically learn the F-16. The answer was that if the Ukrainian pilots were proficient in the MiG-29 or Su-27 and had good English skills, they could probably gain a basic level of proficiency in the F-16 with about four months of training.

[ColinC]

17. +10,000

Thank you!!

[yaesu]

2. We have been training Ukrainian pilots in AZ for a few months now, they should be ready

to fly as soon as the F-16s get delivered which will probably be another few months.

[applegrove]

3. Good.

[PortTack]

7. Great!

[keithbvadu2]

5. Plus a large sytem of parts and maintenance.

Plus a large system of parts and maintenance.

It's nice to have the newest/newer and bestest but may be more efficient to have systems that can be kept operational for the long term.

I'm all for helping them with weapons and such but would like it to be effective and efficient.

[SpamWyzer]

8. Then you might

want to read up on the F-16. Nearly 5000 have been produced since 1976. Some 25 different countries use the plane. It is the most stable platform around, but also well maintained and upgraded with new systems, which it was designed to allow. I can only imagine 25 countries would say it is effective and efficient.

[keithbvadu2]

13. And they are not starting to use it from scratch in an operational war like Ukraine will be.

This learning curve is going to be steep.

[mitch96]

6. This is a big deal...bravo!! nt

[BOSSHOG]

9. Russia is using Fox against the U S

Dark Brandon says release the hounds. And to think trump sucked up and cowed down to Putin. All in the name of freedom.

[Initech]

12. I have no doubt Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are on Putin's payroll.

[Warpy]

10. Whao. I know the UK has been ready to send them

and is not training additional flight crews.

Anything that will help chase Russia back inside its borders is a good thing. Putin's vanity war has gone on long enough.

[Initech]

11. Good! Fuck the conspiracy theorists!

[Stinky The Clown]

15. Excellent news

[mitch96]

16. How much do you want to bet some retired multinational F-16 pilots are gonna

volunteer to help the Ukrainian Air force with the job...
I wonder if they will put on the classic shark mouth like the Flying Tigers did in China?
m