With the first F-16s now operating in Ukraine (pictured above), the country has inducted its first student pilots into the European F-16 Training Center in Romania. (Getty Images)
The European F-16 Training Center (EFTC) in Romania has inducted its first student pilots from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the milestone on 12 September, saying, “a group of our pilots is already undergoing training in Romania”.
The EFTC at the 86th Fetesti Air Base in eastern Romania opened in November 2023, since when it has trained Romanian Air Force (RoAF) pilots on 18 F-16s donated to the centre by the Netherlands.
With the first of these RoAF pilots graduating in July, the Dutch Defence Minister, Ruben Brekelmans, noted at that time that Ukrainian pilots would follow. “I am looking forward to the moment when the first Ukrainian pilots will be trained here,” he said.
Up until now, Ukrainian F-16 pilots had undergone the final phase of their training at Flyvestation Skrydstrup (Skrydstrup Air Base) in Denmark. This location ceased performing this role in June, ahead of the first Ukrainian students being inducted into the EFTC.
News of the arrival of the first Ukrainian students at the EFTC came weeks after the first 10 of a pledged 79 F-16AM/BM Block 15 Mid-Life Update (MLU) jets arrived in Ukraine in early August. In addition to these combat-capable aircraft, an undisclosed number of ground-based trainers are being provided to serve as decoys. One of these aircraft and its pilot were lost in late August in an incident that is still being investigated by Ukrainian authorities.
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