The United States is not training the Ukrainian military to fly F-16 fighter jets, but is assessing the possibility of using American equipment on MiG aircraft, John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator at the White House National Security Council, said in an interview with CNN.
According to him, the purpose of inviting Ukrainian pilots to the United States is to assess “how much they can use certain American types of weapons on their fighters, that is, MiGs.” “It’s about a certain type of precision-guided missile that we’re giving them,” Kirby said.
In turn, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky told the TV channel that his American counterpart Joe Biden promised to work out the issue of preparing the Ukrainian military for flights on F-16 fighter jets. The Ukrainian side needs these planes, Zelensky said, adding that Biden, according to him, promised that the study of the issue would begin soon.
Earlier, Politico and NBC reported that two Ukrainian pilots arrived in the United States so that the US military could determine the amount of time needed to learn how to fly combat aircraft, including F-16 fighters. Later, Politico, citing a Pentagon source and interlocutor participating in the discussion, said that the US military was exploring the possibility of installing advanced Western-style air-to-air missiles on Soviet-made Ukrainian MiG fighters.
Source: Rosbalt
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