A coalition of 11 NATO countries agreed to begin an F-16 training program in Europe this August to train Ukrainian pilots on the warplanes, ending speculation about when the long-awaited training would begin.
The agreement, led by Denmark and the Netherlands, was reached Tuesday at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. The coalition signed a memorandum of agreement for the training mission.
Ukrainian pilots will learn how to operate the fourth-generation fighter jets in Denmark while another supportive training center will be set up in Romania, according to Reuters.
Other nations in the coalition will provide financial and logistical support.
The Netherlands’s Minister of Defense, Kajsa Ollongren, said her nation will provide F-16 jets.
Belgium’s defense leader announced Brussels will provide instructors to train pilots and offer expertise on aircraft maintenance.
Kyiv has long asked for the F-16s as it has struggled against Russia’s vast air superiority in the war but has only secured Soviet-era jets such as MiG-29s from Western allies.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the “F-16s will protect Ukraine’s skies and NATO’s Eastern Flank.”
“The Ukrainian Air Force is prepared to master them as quickly as possible,” Reznikov tweeted.
President Biden announced the F-16 training program in May but with little detail on the arrangement.
The U.S. has so far declined to offer any further details, including when training would begin and when the aircraft might arrive on the battlefield.
The training for F-16s is expected to take at least two months. Denmark’s acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told reporters Tuesday they might “see results” in the beginning of next year, according to Reuters.