Two Ukrainian pilots are in the U.S. for training assessment on attack aircraft, including F-16s

Two Ukrainian pilots are presently successful the United States undergoing an appraisal to find however agelong it could instrumentality to bid them to alert onslaught aircraft, including F-16 combatant jets, according to 2 legislature officials and a elder U.S. official.

The Ukrainians' skills are being evaluated connected simulators astatine a U.S. subject basal successful Tucson, Arizona, the officials said, and they whitethorn beryllium joined by much of their chap pilots soon. 

U.S. authorities have approved bringing up to 10 much Ukrainian pilots to the U.S. for further assessment as aboriginal arsenic this month, the officials said.

The accomplishment of the archetypal 2 pilots marks the archetypal clip Ukrainian pilots person traveled to the U.S. to person their skills evaluated by American subject trainers. Officials said the effort has duplicate goals: to amended the pilots' skills and measure however agelong a due grooming programme could take.

"The programme is astir assessing their abilities arsenic pilots truthful we tin amended counsel them connected however to usage capabilities they person and we person fixed them," an medication authoritative said. 

Two medication officials stressed that it isn't a grooming programme and said that the Ukrainians volition not beryllium flying immoderate craft during their clip successful the U.S.  

These officials said the pilots volition beryllium utilizing a simulator that tin mimic flying assorted types of aircraft, and they emphasized that determination are nary updates connected the U.S. determination to supply F-16's to Ukraine beyond what the Pentagon's apical argumentation authoritative said to Congress past week.

The official, Colin Kahl, told the House Armed Services Committee that the U.S. has not made the determination to supply F-16's and neither had U.S. allies and partners.  

He besides said the U.S. has "not started grooming connected F-16s" and that the transportation timeline for F-16s is "essentially the same" arsenic the grooming timeline, astir 18 months.  

"So you don't really prevention yourself clip by starting the grooming aboriginal successful our assessment," said Kahl, who is the nether caput of defence for policy. "And since we haven't made the determination to supply F-16's and neither person our allies and partners, it doesn't marque consciousness to commencement to bid them connected a strategy they whitethorn ne'er get." 

Other U.S. defence officials person said the grooming could beryllium shortened to six to 9 months, depending connected the pilots erstwhile grooming and cognition of combatant aircraft.  

Ukrainian officials person told the U.S. and different allies that they person less than 20 pilots acceptable to question to the U.S. to bid connected F-16s and different 30 oregon truthful who could beryllium trained successful the adjacent future, according to American and Western officials.  

Asked astir the appraisal of 2 Ukrainian pilots, a defence authoritative described it arsenic "familiarization event."  

"It is simply a regular enactment arsenic portion of our military-to-military dialog with Ukraine," the authoritative said.

"The 'familiarization event' is fundamentally a treatment betwixt the Air Force unit and an reflection of however the U.S. Air Force operates. This lawsuit allows america to amended assistance Ukrainian pilots go much effectual pilots and amended counsel them connected however to make their ain capabilities." 

The defence authoritative added that determination are nary contiguous plans to summation the fig of pilots beyond the 2 presently successful Tucson but said "we're not closing the doorway connected aboriginal opportunities."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked the U.S. for F-16s, but President Joe Biden has resisted the requests truthful far. In an interrogation with ABC News last month, Biden said Ukraine does not request F-16s astatine this time, adding that's based connected the U.S. military's advice. 

"I'm ruling it retired for now," helium said erstwhile asked if helium would ever nonstop F-16s to Ukraine.

Biden besides told reporters past week that helium had discussed F-16s with Zelenskyy during his sojourn to Kyiv connected Feb. 20 but would not disclose the details of that discussion.  

In his quality earlier the House Armed Services Committee, Kahl said that Ukrainian officials person asked the U.S. for arsenic galore arsenic 128 craft — a premix of F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s.  

Kahl said the U.S. Air Force estimates that Ukraine volition yet request betwixt 50 and 80 F-16s to regenerate its existent aerial force. If the U.S. provides recently built aircraft, it volition instrumentality 3 to six years to present them to Ukraine, with a somewhat shorter timeline of 18 to 24 months if the U.S. sends refurbished older models F-16s. 

The outgo to nonstop the F-16s would beryllium arsenic overmuch arsenic $11 billion, depending connected the exemplary and fig delivered.

"That would devour a immense information of the remaining information assistance that we person for this fiscal year," Kahl said. 

On Sunday, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said U.S. subject officials told him they enactment providing F-16s to Ukraine. 

"I was astatine the Munich Security Conference, met with a batch of the high-ranking subject officials, including our ultimate allied commander," McCaul said connected ABC News' "This Week."

"They're each successful favour of america putting not lone F-16s successful but longer-range artillery, to instrumentality retired the Iranian drones successful Crimea." 

But with the agelong timeline for transportation and grooming of F-16s, the immense terms tag and the ample Russian Air Force already gathering craft crossed the borderline from Ukraine, immoderate US subject leaders urge focusing connected weapons and instrumentality that Ukraine tin usage instantly similar aerial defence systems. 

"Even successful our astir earnest effort it volition instrumentality months to get Ukrainians flying F-16s. They are beating the Russian Air Force with aerial defenses, wherefore would we alteration tactics now?" a U.S. defence authoritative said.

The Russian Air Force has astir 500 aircraft, the authoritative said, which dwarfs the Ukrainian force. 

"It's conscionable not the mode to combat the Russian Air Force," the authoritative added. "Even if we walk each the wealth and nonstop each craft we can, it's conscionable a driblet successful the bucket compared to the Russian Air Force."