Ukraine seeks retired F-16 pilots to fly its jets while it trains new pilots

If you're a retired F-16 pilot, your services may be wanted in Ukraine.

That's according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, in comments made just after meeting with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

"If you're a retired F-16 pilot and you're looking to fight for freedom, they will hire you here," Graham said. "They're going to look throughout NATO nations for willing fighter pilots who retired to come help them until they can get their pilots trained. So we're going to get these jets in the air sooner rather than later."

The first of 10 F-16s arrived in Ukraine at the end of July. Double that number should be flying by the end of this year. But the pipeline for training Ukrainian pilots is a narrow one.

U.S. officials say only 20 airmen in U.S., Dutch and Danish training programs are expected to be ready to fly this year.

Experts say you typically need two pilots for every aircraft.

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This is a moment when Ukraine having more skilled F-16 pilots would be particularly helpful. Ukraine's military says its latest incursion into Russia has captured 600 square miles of Russian territory. But these troops are vulnerable to air attacks.

Russia's defense ministry has shown just that: Ukrainian military vehicles and tanks are being targeted by Russia's SU-25 fighter jets.

On the front line in Ukraine, Russian troops enjoy little air support because their fighter jets are so vulnerable to Ukrainian air defenses. NATO hopes that the F-16s will force Russian pilots further back — far enough that they can no longer terrorize Ukrainian civilians with the massive glide bombs they drop while flying within Russian airspace.

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