West eyes Romania as possible F-16 training site for Ukrainian pilots
A coalition of Western countries is eyeing Romania as a possible location to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, according to three people with knowledge of the planning, indicating that NATO countries are moving closer to starting a program that could see the warplanes above Ukrainian skies within months, Politico reports.
“Romania is one of the sites that the coalition is looking at for hosting training in,” said a Western official, who along with a current and a former Defense Department official were granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive effort.
The group is working to negotiate a contract to conduct the aircraft training at a site in Romania, the current and former Pentagon officials said. It’s likely that Lockheed Martin, which builds the F-16, would conduct the training, they added.
European officials would neither confirm nor deny that the proposal to train Ukrainian pilots in Romania is under discussion. A Dutch Defense Ministry spokesperson would say only that the partners are working to establish an F-16 training center in Eastern Europe. But the discussion of which country will donate jets has not yet been settled.
“The delivery of F16s is not at the table now. We are working very hard to start the F-16 training [with Denmark to train Ukrainian] pilots as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said. “Delivery requires a separate decision-making process.”
