Denmark to start the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s government said Monday that the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jets has started and the retirement of the Scandinavian country’s fleet of aging U.S. fighters has been moved up two years.

The replacement fighters, F-35s, will be operative by 2025, acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said. Initially, the switch was planned for 2027.

Lund Poulsen said that NATO member Denmark “has taken the step of starting a training and further education effort for the Ukrainian pilots.”

“We will also consider whether we should make a concrete donation to Ukraine of the Danish F-16 fighters, and how many there should be,” he said.

Ukrainian pilots must spend six to eight months of training before a possible donation of Danish F-16 aircraft can become a reality, Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR.

“This does not mean that you cannot make a decision beforehand. But (the F-16 planes) will be in Denmark until 2024,” Lund Poulsen said.

Denmark has ordered 27 F-35A fighter jets, which will replace the more than 40-year-old F-16s, of which Denmark has 30 operative planes. The switch to the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter jets is taking place from late 2023 to the end of 2025.

Ukraine has long asked for Western fighter jets to help it resist the full-scale Russian invasion, which began in February 2022. Initially reluctant, the U.S. and other NATO countries recently agreed to allow Ukrainian pilots to receive training to on F-16 fighters, though none has yet committed to hand over any planes.

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