The first group of Ukrainian student pilots has successfully completed fighter training in France.
Since March 2024, 10 Ukrainian trainees, aged between 21 and 23, have been training at an undisclosed airbase in southwest France, which has been kept confidential for security reasons.
Although France replaced the Alpha Jet with the Pilatus PC-21 for fighter training in 2023, the fleet was maintained in operational condition while the framework for training Ukrainian pilots was being discussed between Western allies. The French military has committed to training 26 Ukrainians in two years.
The training was eventually made possible thanks to a collaboration with Belgium. Until 2018, the Belgian Air Force trained its F-16 pilots on the Alpha Jet. The course was reduced from 18 to six months, during which the Ukrainian student pilots learned air combat fundamentals. The training involved simulator sessions and at least 80 hours of flight time on the Alpha Jet.
“Learning the fundamentals of combat aviation includes training in very low altitude navigation, evolving in a dense tactical framework in the face of ground-to-air and air-to-air threats, aerial combat, air-to-air shooting as well as air-to-ground shooting,” France’s chief of staff explained in a press release. “This is a “tailor-made” teaching in order to optimize training time while ensuring quality that meets the operational challenge.”
Fin de formation pour les premiers pilotes de chasse ukrainiens formés par l’armée de l’Air et de l’Espace. La première promotion vient d'être macaronnée sur Alphajet. Une formation de six mois répondant à un besoin opérationnel de @DefenceU.@Armees_Gouv @EtatMajorFR @Elysee pic.twitter.com/njZyV4ER6B
— Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (@Armee_de_lair) September 20, 2024
The Ukrainian pilots will now likely deploy to the European F-16 Training Centre (EFTC) at the 86th Air Base near Fetești, Romania, where they will convert to fly one of the F-16 fighters provided by Western air forces.
France will eventually train Ukrainian pilots to fly the Dassault Mirage 2000-5, as French President Emmanuel Macron committed to transferring French fighter jets to Ukraine by the end of 2024.
“As of tomorrow, we will launch a pilot training and transfer program for these aircraft with the aim [of completing their training] by the end of the year,” Macron said in June 2024.
It is unclear whether the training of Ukrainian Mirage pilots has begun, or whether some of the first 10 cadets will convert to the French fighter rather than the F-16.