[url]https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-dutch-contractor-f16s-ukraine-complex[url]
The French security outlet Intelligence Online has reported that a squadron of veteran U.S. Air Force and Royal Netherlands Air Force pilots are flying F-16 fighters for the Ukrainian Air Force. A shortage of trained Ukrainian pilots was identified at an early stage as the main obstacle to integrating F-16s into the Air Force, which has throughout its history operated only Soviet origin fighter types. Training courses were reportedly further undermined by language barriers, a lack of qualified trainees, and a range of other issues, which made operations by experienced NATO airmen vital to allowing the Air Force to establish an effective air defense capability using the newly delivered fighters. F-16s have constantly operated far from Russian forces, with a primary mission consistently of intercepting Russian long-range weapons, primarily unmanned aircraft, which limits the risk to U.S. and Dutch personnel.
Identifying the issue of a lack of training among Ukrainian personnel for F-16 operations, U.S. Air Force General James Hecker, who heads U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), NATO's Allied Air Command, and U.S. Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA), observed as early as 2023: “They're young pilots that barely have any hours at all. So they're not currently fighting the war… And then they're going to get a little bit more training on propellers, and then go down to France and fly in the [Dornier Alpha Jets] for a little bit, that all is going to take time… And that's probably not going to happen before the end of the year. So that takes a while to make that happen. So that's why it's going to be at least until next year until you see F-16s in Ukraine.” He concluded that Ukraine was unlikely to have enough pilots able to fly F-16s in combat at anywhere for several years, stating: “You can get proficient on some weapons systems fairly quickly. It takes a while to build a couple of squadrons of F-16s and to get their readiness high enough and their proficiency high enough. This could be four or five years down the road.”
The deployment of U.S. and Dutch pilots was reportedly made in response to significant losses suffered by Ukrainian F-16 units to accidents during air defence missions, with four losses having been confirmed while unconfirmed reports have indicated further incidents have occurred. This made it appear vital to transition F-16s to be flown by more experienced pilots, who reportedly are officially no longer part of their original militaries, and work as civilian contractors without military ranks and outside the Ukrainian chain of command. This remains in line with the model widely reported to be used by NATO member states to make a wide range of personnel contributions to the Ukrainian war effort. As observed by Polish journalist Zbigniew Parafianowicz, citing Polish officers: “we worked out a formula for our presence in Ukraine … we were simply sent on paid leave. Politicians pretended not to see this.”
The deployment of Western contractors to operate complex equipment in the Ukrainian theatre has been widely reported and has reportedly been vital to allowing assets such as MIM-104 Patriot long range air defense systems and M1A1 Abrams tanks to be used in combat far more quickly than would have been the case if training of local crews had been required. In January 2023 the U.S. Congressional Research Service warned that there was “a lot of learning to do before Ukraine will have a functioning Patriot system on the ground,” with the training of local repair crews alone expected to take approximately 53 weeks. The deployment of Patriot systems for combat operations just four months later thus fueled widespread speculation that they were very likely manned by foreign contractors from NATO member states. Alongside contractors, Western active duty personnel, including special forces, have also played important roles in allowing Ukraine to operate complex equipment, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz having in January 2024 confirmed longstanding suspicions that British special forces on the ground in Ukraine were providing support to facilitating launches of Storm Shadow cruise missiles against Russian targets.
Commenting on the importance of specialist Western contractor for the operation of complex equipment in the Ukrainian theatre, Russian state media observed following a strike on the headquarters of predominantly French European contractors in January 2024 that these personnel were “highly trained specialists who work on specific weapons systems too complex for the average Ukrainian conscripts.” With the strike having caused at least 80 casualties, 60 or more of which were deaths, their neutralization was reported to have “put some of the most lethal and long-range weapons in the Ukrainian arsenal out of service until more specialists are found” to replace them. The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ heavy reliance on Western specialists to operate complex equipment represents part of a broader trend towards contractors playing a central role in the war effort, including for less skilled roles, with frontline combat units increasingly being manned by contractors from Poland, Colombia, and multiple other Latin American states.
