Thread by @aidefranceukr

In the spring of 2023, as the 🇺🇦 demand for combat aircraft became more urgent, France also offered to train 🇺🇦 pilots on Mirage 2000s.

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However, this proposal was not taken up, as the Ukrainians preferred to be trained on F-16s, the delivery of which had been promised to them by many European states that had them.

Nevertheless, around 3️⃣0️⃣ 🇺🇦 crews were trained in France, particularly in surface-to-air defence and survival in the event of their aircraft being shot down.

On 15 May 2023, when asked about 🇫🇷 and 🇪🇺 aid to Ukraine, the day after his dinner with Zelensky at the @Elysee, Macron announced that, in addition to the delivery of SCALP missiles, he had “opened the door” to training Ukrainian pilots “with several other European countries”.

With the F-16s and Mirage 2000s it has been promised, the 🇺🇦 Air Force needed to train a significant number of young pilots in a relatively short period of time. Hence, the help of several countries, including France.

In August 2023, 3️⃣2️⃣ students in their twenties were selected to learn the basics of air combat at the controls of a Western aircraft. Of these, only 8️⃣ were sufficiently proficient in English to begin their course immediately.

1️⃣0️⃣ were sent to the UK for language training before making their first training flights aboard the Royal Air Force’s Tutor Mk1, Prefect Mk1 and T-6 Texan II.

At the beginning of March, 4️⃣ 🇺🇦 student pilots, who already had some flying experience, left for an air base in the south-west of France to complete the intermediate phase of their training on board an Alphajet. They were joined a few weeks later by 6️⃣ of their comrades.

For six months, which is very short compared to “normal” courses, these 🇺🇦 students had to learn the basics of air combat from 🇫🇷 instructors and an F-16 pilot. This was done by means of simulator sessions and, above all, at least 8️⃣0️⃣ hours of flight time on the Alphajet.

Incidentally, this aircraft is no longer used to train fighter pilots for the 🇫🇷 Air Force, which now only uses Pilatus PC-21s.

The first 🇺🇦 student pilots have been certified. These are probably the four trainee pilots who arrived in France last March.

As the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces points out in its latest operational update, these 🇺🇦 student pilots followed “a tailor-made training to optimise the training time while ensuring a quality that meets the operational standards”.

It added that “learning the basics of combat aviation includes training in navigation at very low altitudes, development in a dense tactical framework facing surface-to-air and air-to-air threats, combat air, air-to-air firing as well as air-to-surface firing.”

Now that they have mastered these basics, the newly qualified student pilots have probably already moved on to an air base in Romania for their operational transition to the F-16. In total, France has committed to training 2️⃣6️⃣ 🇺🇦 pilots.