[Goose]

I understand the reality that politics makes actually making a decision and getting through Congress is a project that could try the souls of many men. What makes no sense is why one of the pols hasn't told the Sec Def that if the bill gets signed we want you ready to go, so go make that happen. To borrow the title of a book that touches on this kind of issue, what happened is a "Dereliction of Duty".
How many Ukrainian pilots are currently being trained, somewhere, anywhere?  Not a good situation.

https://theaviationist.com/2024/05/21/uk...ng-france/

This article discusses some Ukrainian pilots who are training in France. These pilots are totally inexperienced. They went through "basic" in the UK, as well as English language instruction. They are transitioning to an "intermediate" combat trainer (similar to the USN T-45). Later they will require F-16 instruction. These guys are probably at least 9-10 months (probably more) away from being "ready". They get 6 months of Alpha jet and then the F-16 transition class. As the article points out, training total novices is probably necessary, given that Ukraine needs their experienced aviators and (perhaps equally importantly) re-training pilots that are ex Warsaw pact pilots is often very difficult. All that said, what is happening now should have happened two years ago as a "just in case". It didn't, and that is IMO indeed a "dereliction of duty" by the US air staff. 

The article appears to say there are 3 groups of 12 pilots being trained in the US, UK, and Denmark. These pilots are expected to be ready "this summer". It is unclear whether this includes the "original" class being trained in the US, but I expect it does. The following article is a bit old but consistent with that timeline. https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2024/0...ay/394264/

So, that is 36 pilots, assuming nobody "washes out". Everybody making it would be a bit of a surprise, but who knows what the standards actually are. Obviously not really enough, almost a joke, except this is literally "deadly" serious. The guys in France right now will be a nice add, but one wonders what the state of the force will be in early 2025 when they graduate.

[Goose]

I understand the reality that politics makes actually making a decision and getting through Congress is a project that could try the souls of many men. What makes no sense is why one of the pols hasn't told the Sec Def that if the bill gets signed we want you ready to go, so go make that happen. To borrow the title of a book that touches on this kind of issue, what happened is a "Dereliction of Duty".
How many Ukrainian pilots are currently being trained, somewhere, anywhere?  Not a good situation.

https://theaviationist.com/2024/05/21/uk...ng-france/

This article discusses some Ukrainian pilots who are training in France. These pilots are totally inexperienced. They went through "basic" in the UK, as well as English language instruction. They are transitioning to an "intermediate" combat trainer (similar to the USN T-45). Later they will require F-16 instruction. These guys are probably at least 9-10 months (probably more) away from being "ready". They get 6 months of Alpha jet and then the F-16 transition class. As the article points out, training total novices is probably necessary, given that Ukraine needs their experienced aviators and (perhaps equally importantly) re-training pilots that are ex Warsaw pact pilots is often very difficult. All that said, what is happening now should have happened two years ago as a "just in case". It didn't, and that is IMO indeed a "dereliction of duty" by the US air staff. 

The article appears to say there are 3 groups of 12 pilots being trained in the US, UK, and Denmark. These pilots are expected to be ready "this summer". It is unclear whether this includes the "original" class being trained in the US, but I expect it does. The following article is a bit old but consistent with that timeline. https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2024/0...ay/394264/

So, that is 36 pilots, assuming nobody "washes out". Everybody making it would be a bit of a surprise, but who knows what the standards actually are. Obviously not really enough, almost a joke, except this is literally "deadly" serious. The guys in France right now will be a nice add, but one wonders what the state of the force will be in early 2025 when they graduate.