How many flight hours do Ukrainian Armed Forces pilots need to learn to operate the F-16: Ignat explained

Yuriy Ignat, Spokesperson for the Air Force Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, stated that Ukrainian pilots have extensive experience and flight hours, including combat experience. Therefore, each pilot will undergo individual training abroad.

He made these remarks on May 23 during a telethon broadcast.

"This is a conditional question. They already have hundreds of flight hours. We have a pilot who has three hundred combat sorties on the Su-25 attack aircraft. That is a significant amount of flight experience, as well as other pilots who work alongside him. Everyone has hundreds of flight hours. Every cadet who graduated from the Kharkiv National Air Force University already has 200 flight hours. After that, they master various skills and obtain the third class, and then the second class," he said.

Yuriy Ignat added that the F-16 is a modern aircraft, unlike the MiG-29.

"Here comes the retraining because it is necessary to understand how Western equipment works and how it differs. The F-16 is a more automated equipment, whereas the MiG-29 has up to 300 buttons that all need to be known. And the F-16 does it automatically instead of a pilot. It is an automated machine with modern radars and aiming systems. Therefore, each pilot requires individual training, and each one needs a specific number of hours to refine their skills. Instructors will assess the progress. However, we don't have inexperienced pilots," he explained.

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