This is the Biden Administration pilot training slow roll. Ukraine will have more Mirage 2000-5 pilots in five months from France than the Biden Administration will allow NATO F-16 pilots in 18 months.

8 comments

1. Even the US western allies are getting frustrated….

2. Listen to Justin Bronk on the latest Ward Caroll podcast. As an air power expert at RUSI he has a degree of access into NATO member countries militaries/air forces and knows his shit. His view was that learning to fly and maintain the new aircraft is the easier aspect of the training program – the complex part is learning the operational skillset and doctrine to use F-16 effectively, then you’re adding the fact that Ukrainian F-16s will be flying in a threat enviroment infinitely more dangerous than which any NATO country would ever deploy them in (eg before NATO deployed F-16s, a NATO force would have already sanitised the operational space with an extensive cruise missile/5th gen bombing/SEAD campaign/SF prep phase). His view was that the longer they get to train, the better, and that donor countries have learnt the lesson of their training and supply failures prior to the 2023 summer offensive.

   He also speaks about Ukraine having the requisite air defence assets to ensure that the F-16s aren’t destroyed on the ground.

3. Vive la France!

4. Tires guy is now an air power expert too?

5. The Biden administration sure gets a lot of hate, but I don’t know how this falls on them entirely. Many Western countries fly the F16, and others should step up to fill the void. The USA has given nearly more military equipment than everyone else combined. If they don’t have the spots and the trainers to train more, then it’s like asking blood from a stone. It would affect relations negatively if they start backing out on prearranged contracts with other countries.

   Politics in the USA is like walking on eggshells most of the time. Decisions take a long time to be implemented due to the government structure. That’s how democracy works, and we saw the darkside of that over the winter when Congress held up Ukraine aid. I’m sure if Biden could flick his fingers and train 200 more pilots, he would. But only a dictator could make a lightning fast decision like that without following due process.

6. I just wish the training had started in February 2021.

7. The F-16s take a minimum of 8 months per pilot, and that’s if you’re starting with pilots that are already trained fighter pilots. What’s the train up time for the French? Where does this 5 month number come from?

8. More people drive Hondas than Formula 1 cars.