Romania, Netherlands to Establish Training Centre for Ukrainians to Service F-16s
Romania and the Netherlands will set up a joint centre to train Ukrainian technicians to maintain F-16 fighter jets.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to the Dutch Ministry of Defence.
On 7 May, the two countries signed a memorandum of intent to establish a joint centre during a visit by Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans to his Romanian counterpart, Angel Tilvar.
The training centre will be located at the Fătesti airbase, home to the European F-16 Training Centre (EFTC).
EFTC trains both Romanian and Ukrainian pilots. In particular, as the defence ministry reminded, at the end of last year, it was also announced that 18 Dutch F-16s, which are currently located at the EFTC, would be officially transferred to Romania.
‘Ukrainians are fully utilising F-16s for air defence. Every day we see how necessary it is. We need not only pilots, but also well-trained maintenance personnel. Together with Romania, we are taking the next important step in this direction,’ Brekelmans said.
On 3 May, the US State Department approved the potential sale of a package of F-16 fighter jet maintenance and training services to Ukraine worth about $310.5 million.
And on 4 May, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine and the Czech Republic were working to establish a Ukrainian-Czech F-16 school.
As The Gaze reported earlier, in March, the Air Force of Ukraine received an additional batch of F-16 fighter jets.