Newly emerged reports claim a mixed squadron with Ukrainian, U.S. and Dutch pilots is flying combat missions on Ukrainian F-16s.
New reports which are quickly going viral claim that Ukraine has stood up a new mixed squadron with Ukrainian, U.S. and Dutch pilots flying combat missions together un the country’s F-16s. The reports, which we can’t independently verify, mention that this unit was created “in recent weeks,” with the former military pilots from the U.S. and the Netherlands hired trough temporary contracts.
Let’s see what we know about these claims and try to understand how accurate they are.
A Mixed-Squadron
The reports about the mixed squadron originated from the French website Intelligence Online, later relayed by Ukrainian media and social media across Europe. The original source of the information is however unknown.
Intelligence Online’s report mentions that the recently created squadron is playing a central role in the defense of the Kyiv Oblast, and at the same time is helping Ukrainian pilots to fully harness the F-16’s capabilities. Pilots are being hired through temporary contracts which cover six-month rotations in the country.
Among these contractors are claimed to be a former U.S. pilot who “carried out numerous combat missions in Afghanistan” and another pilot who is said to have conducted missions in the Middle East. Also, the cadre includes an unspecified number of Dutch pilots who graduated “leading European air combat schools known for their advanced training in interception and modern aerial warfare.”
These pilots are said to frequently fly air defense missions, almost daily, during Russian night attacks, using their experience to counter the drone and cruise missile threats. Among their targets are Kalibr and Kh-101 missiles, Geran drones and other assets.
Moreover, one of the most significant contribution is said to be the experience in the employment of the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod, used both for long-range identification and targeting purposes. Sources say Ukrainian pilots are working to improve their proficiency with this important sensor of the F-16.
Are the Reports True?
As mentioned earlier, it is not possible to independently verify these reports. We often talked in our articles here at The Aviationist about the need to apply the Zero Trust principle, treating each claim and report as unconfirmed until validated through independent sources.
Zero Trust concept is important not only in cybersecurity, but also in how information is processed and consumed in real-time conflict zones. Nowadays, with conflicting narratives, anonymous sources and images of questionable origin which can be doctored or, worse, AI-generated, filtering out misinformation is now as critical as ever.
The report about the mixed squadron presents some similarities to another initiative, this time officially confirmed by both official and independent sources: the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC) in Romania. The EFTC employs former U.S. and Dutch pilots as instructors to train Romanian and Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16AM/BM at the 86th Air Base in Fetești.
Another similarity is the six-month length of the rotations, which is similar to the length of the training courses – based on the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 B-Course – offered by the EFTC. These courses are entirely held in Romania and with F-16s owned by Romania.
This does not necessarily mean that the reports about the mixed squadron are not true. Rumors about Western pilots flying in Ukraine have been circulated for a long time without official confirmation, and there eventual presence in the war-torn country surely would be a closely guarded secret.
However, it must be noted that, in 2024, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is reported to have suggested during a visit to Kyiv that retired U.S. F-16 pilots could be hired by Ukraine to fly the aircraft there. The report emerged after Graham met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Retired F-16 pilots who want to fight for freedom may be hired by Ukraine,” reportedly said the Senator. “The Ukrainians will look among NATO countries for ready pilots who have retired to help them until Ukraine trains its pilots. This way, Kyiv will be able to use the F-16s transferred from allies earlier, while its pilots are undergoing training.”
The Senator’s office later released a statement mentioning that Zelensky “would be looking to supplement his Air Force by establishing a program to enlist retired NATO F-16 fighter pilots.” The concept would be similar to the numerous western volunteers and contracted fighters on the ground, which started arriving in Ukraine since the early days of the war in 2022.
It is unclear if this effort went forward, as info about this are scarce. For once, it is likely that such a program would have required U.S. government approval due to a host of reasons, both diplomatic and related to operational security (OPSEC).
Would it Make Sense?
Since the initiative to provide F-16s to Ukraine was launched, a total of around 85 Vipers – as the F-16s is known by its crews – has been promised to the country. About 30 F-16s have already been delivered – the bulk being the 24 jets promised by the Netherlands – and four have been lost so far.
The number of Ukrainian F-16 pilots available is unknown, but it is believed to be limited. In fact, training new pilots on the type takes time, with specifically the F-16 training taking around six months.
Moreover, many Ukrainian pilots are being trained from the beginning, including the previous stages on dedicated trainer aircraft as part of both basic and advanced flight training. In fact, while converting experienced pilots to the new aircraft would remove the need for the earlier phases of training, this would lead to two problems.
The first problem is that Ukraine would have to remove pilots from flying duty, and thus would have less pilots available to fly on the Soviet-era aircraft it already has in service, which represent the bulk of the inventory. This in turn would hamper the generation of daily combat sorties until the pilots return to service in the country.
At the same time, another problem would be the need for these pilots to “erase” their habits and mindset acquired by flying the Soviet-era jets. In fact, they would be converting to a completely different mindset with the F-16’s sidestick with notoriously only moves a quarter of inch in each direction, the different cockpit layout based on Multi-Function Displays (MFD), Head-Up Display (HUD) and Integrated Control Panel (ICP) to access all the functions and capabilities, and the different measurements for all the flight parameters.
Under such light, supplementing Ukrainian F-16 pilots with experienced foreign pilots would help avoid a reduction of the pilots available for tasking until enough pilots are trained. At the same time, their experience would prove useful in helping Ukrainian pilots to master the F-16’s capabilities beyond what they learned during the reduced-length training courses that were specifically set-up to accelerate the introduction of the U.S.-made fighter in Ukraine.
It is no secret that, under normal condition, training F-16 pilots for each scenario they might encounter in their career takes time. As we previously highlighted in an article about the U.S. Air Force’s F-16 training, the standard B-Course usually takes about nine months to graduate a pilot, but it does not end there.
In fact, the pilot would then continue training after being assigned to an operational unit to achieve the combat readiness. During this time, usually several months, pilots expand their mission sets and introduce new weapons, sensors and qualifications during even more challenging scenarios, culminating with the premier air combat exercise, the Red Flag.
Based on the length of each training phase and the downtime between them, the entire training from basic flight training to combat readiness in the F-16 takes between two to three years. Obviously, this timeline might have been condensed to help Ukraine meet its needs sooner, but it can be easily understood that it still a long time, and would explain why the country would look at supplementing its ranks with foreign pilots.
