The crash of the F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine has raised the question of the pace of training of Ukrainian pilots to use the aircraft on the battlefield, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sept. 6, citing unnamed U.S. and Western officials.
Ukraine's General Staff confirmed on Aug. 29 that the F-16, which had been recently delivered to the country and was being operated by Ukraine's top pilot Oleksii Mes, call sign "Moonfish," had crashed while defending against a mass Russian drone and missile attack on Aug. 26. Mes was killed in the crash.
Ukraine's Air Force has not yet announced the cause of the crash. An investigation, with the U.S. involvement, is underway.
Kyiv is yet to establish whether the plane was shot down by Russia or "friendly fire," or whether a mechanical malfunction caused the crash, U.S. officials told the WSJ.
One of the American officials claimed that a Russian missile exploded near the F-16 shortly before it disappeared from radar, which could have either damaged the jet or forced the pilot to maneuver too low over the ground, leading to the crash.
The training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s has been happening at an accelerated pace. Ukraine's pilot training program is ongoing, but "the crash shows what happens when you try to rush things," an unnamed senior defense official told the WSJ.
Western officials are now discussing Ukraine's decision to use the jets on the battlefield weeks after the arrival of the first batch, sending pilots who have had limited flying hours in the U.S. aircraft on combat missions, the WSJ reported.
Ukraine received its first F-16s at the beginning of August, a year after its allies formed the fighter jet coalition at the NATO summit in Vilnius to support Kyiv with training and aircraft.
Following the F-16 crash, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukraine's Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk on Aug. 30. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that his removal was not connected to the deadly accident.
Kateryna Hodunova
