At the July 11 NATO summit, Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) signed with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Romania and the United Kingdom a statement on the training of the Ukrainian Air Force.
– The coalition countries want to help Ukraine so that it can defend its own airspace. If we can achieve this, we will establish a joint coalition to train the Ukrainian Air Force in the operation and maintenance of F-16 fighters and with the possibility of including other types of fighters at a stage later, said Bjørn Arild Gram.
– We agree that continued support for Ukraine is of great importance in light of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. The Coalition F-16 will initially focus on training. Norway aims to participate with personnel in the training provided in Denmark, says Gram.
Coalition members agree to begin training Ukrainian pilots, technicians and support personnel who will provide the Ukrainian Air Force with a core capability for the operation, servicing and maintenance of fighter jets. F-16 fighter. This includes the provision of appropriate equipment, instructors and other personnel. All training activities will be conducted outside Ukraine.
Joint statement:
STATEMENT ON A JOINT COALITION ON UKRAINIAN AIR FORCE F-16 TRAINING
The defense ministers of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom share the conviction that continued support for Ukraine is of the utmost importance in light of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked aggression.
The parties agree that in order to help Ukraine defend its airspace, they will establish a joint coalition on the training of the Ukrainian Air Force in the operation and maintenance of F-fighter aircraft. 16, in accordance with the necessary authorizations and with the possibility of later including other types of fighter aircraft.
The parties agree to start the training of relevant Ukrainian pilots, technicians and support personnel, which will provide the Ukrainian Air Force with the basic capabilities of operating, servicing and maintaining F-fighter aircraft. 16. This includes providing appropriate equipment, trainers and other personnel for such training. All training activities will be conducted outside Ukraine.
The coalition will focus on training, but will also be ready in due course to consider other areas of effort to ensure Ukraine has a fully functional F-16 capability.
