F-16, will Italy train Ukrainian pilots? Facts and problems
What role will Italy really play in sending F-16s to Ukraine? The word to the experts
Will Italy also participate in the training of Ukrainian pilots for the F-16?
“The training of Ukrainian pilots for F-16s has already started in many countries, such as Poland. This will take time but the sooner you start the better. At the beginning there is discussion, the countries are reluctant, as for the Leopards, but in the end it gets there. And it is a further measure to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself”. This is what the high representative for EU foreign policy Josep Borrell said on his arrival at the Defense Council in Brussels.
Over the weekend, US President Joe Biden gave his support for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine and training pilots. Washington's green light came days after Britain and the Netherlands said they were starting an "international coalition" to help Ukraine procure F-16s.
As Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni underlined on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Hiroshima , our country does not have F-16s but is evaluating "pilot training".
“I'm honestly skeptical about it. Because for eleven years our pilots, no matter how good, haven't practiced for too long” General Vincenzo Camporini, former Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Defense and current scientific advisor of the IAI, observed to La Stampa .
However, Italy "could play an important role in the training of young Ukrainian pilots destined to fly on F-16s by offering advanced training on Leonardo M-346 Master aircraft and extending attendance at the International Flight Training School to Kiev pilots ( IFTS)”, according to Gianandrea Gaiani, director of Defense Analysis .
All the details.
WHY THE TRAINING OF PILOTS WITH F-16 BY ITALY IS NOT CONVENIENT
"There is talk of a possible training of Ukrainian pilots, a decision that we have not yet taken and that we are evaluating with the allies" President Meloni explained to the press.
“All matters concerning military decisions or actions for the defense of Ukraine must be taken jointly by NATO and the European Union. The discussions that will take place at the informal NATO council on the 31st of this month and on the 1st of June and then at the Vilnius summit will be important. Many aspects will be addressed there” added Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.
But as already mentioned, since 2012 our country no longer has the F-16 to offer to Ukraine. Exactly on 23 May 2012, at the 37th Wing of Trapani Birgi, the event for the end of the "Peace Caesar" was held , the bilateral leasing program of the F-16 fighter, with the return to the USAF of the last aircraft still in service with the Air Force.
Therefore according to General Camporini "It is better to organize training in countries that still have F-16s, such as Denmark, Holland, Poland, Portugal and Turkey" . And to the Press , which hypothesizes a "review" by our pilots who flew on F-16s, Camporini replies that "It's not as simple as you think, especially since times are tight because a war is underway. On average, more or less six months are needed between the ability to fly the vehicle and the one to learn how to use the combat assets. Our riders are no longer trained."
EXPLOIT DECIMOMANNU'S BASE
Therefore, let the countries that still have American F-16 jets in their fleets rather than Italy take care of the training. However, to the newspaper directed by Maurizio Giannini, General Camporini suggests another Italian contribution to the training of Ukrainian pilots.
“Rather, I foresee the possibility of providing a space for training such as the Decimomannu base in Sardinia. It is a highly advanced school where training activities could be carried out” explained Vincenzo Camporini.
Without forgetting that the official inauguration of the International Flight Training School (Ifts) , a Top gun school in which fighter pilots from all over the world. The Ifts, born from the collaboration of the AM and Leonardo, is a point of reference for the advanced training of military pilots of the air forces from all over the world who fly on front-line fighters, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft or the F-35 .
THE ROLE OF IFTS
According to the director of Defense Analysis , our country in fact "could play an important role in the training of young Ukrainian pilots destined to fly on F-16s by offering advanced training on Leonardo M-346 Master aircraft and extending attendance to Kiev pilots of the International Flight Training School (IFTS) established in Lecce Galatina and being transferred to the Sardinian airport of Decimomannu already used by fighter pilots from many allied nations including Great Britain, Kuwait and Japan".
It would be "a significant opportunity for Italy – underlines Gianandrea Gaiani – to offer advanced training services and promote the M-346 as a future trainer for the Ukrainian Air Force with the aim of acquiring a part of the orders for the conversion , re-equipment and reorganization of the Ukrainian military which will be financed by NATO, the EU and donor countries".
ENSURE THE MOST POSSIBLE RETURN
Therefore, “If the business of converting Ukrainian pilots from Mig and Sukhoi to F-16s is managed by the air forces that deploy this type of aircraft, Italy can focus on training the new generation of Ukrainian Air Force pilots. A sector in which Rome will in all likelihood have to face British and Canadian competition” highlighted the director of Defense Analysis .
"For this reason it would be useful to immediately launch a political initiative within NATO and the EU and in bilateral military relations with Ukraine to ensure the greatest possible return to the IFTS (jointly managed by the Air Force and Leonardo) and to national industry in exchange for the support that Italy offers to Kiev in military, financial and humanitarian terms” according to Gianandrea Gaiani.
THE CASE OF THE GERMAN RHEINMETALL
In this regard, the director of Defense Analysis argues that “Waiting for initiatives in this sense to be officially announced by the EU and NATO means risking arriving late, when national interests and quotas have already been attributed and regulated within direct agreements. Better to look then at how the German Rheinmetall was awarded the re-equipment of the Ukrainian Army with German products which will be manufactured, after the war, for the most part in new factories that will be opened in Ukraine”.
CONTRIBUTE TO F-16 USABLE AMMUNITION
After that “there is also another kind of contribution that we Italians could make” for General Camporini: “that relating to ammunition, because the bombs and missiles used on our current military aircraft can also be used on the F-16. And then we could access our depots and deliver our ammunition to Kiev".
TIME NODE
Finally, regarding the issue of training time required for Ukrainian pilots (used to flying Soviet-made fighters rather than Western ones), General Camporini highlighted in La Stampa that "It won't be very easy for them, because their training has a Russian, which is different from the Western one. Furthermore, the transition from one aircraft to another requires a lot of time, many hours of flight, of practice with simulators to integrate what you learn in flight and what you learn on the ground”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/f-16-litalia-addestrera-i-piloti-ucraini-fatti-e-problemi/ on Tue, 23 May 2023 12:08:02 +0000.