Denmark is to end its F-16 training programme for Ukrainian pilots by the end of this year, according to Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
The F-16 coalition, a programme in which Denmark is a key player, will have to find another training location.
The decision to end the training is due to Denmark’s intention to focus on its new aircraft, the F-35, explained Poulsen. “We have to devote all our unmitigated energy on this, hence we cannot continue training Ukrainian pilots post 2024,” he said.
By the end of the year, Denmark will have trained around 20 Ukrainian pilots. The Scandinavian nation has also vowed to deliver 19 F-16s to Ukraine once the pilot training is completed.
Denmark and the Netherlands were the first countries to promise to supply Ukraine with F-16s to Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Several other nations, including Norway and Belgium, have also done so.
The United States has divulged plans to train Ukrainians, and a training centre has been identified in Romania to this end.
