The Ukrainian pilots are expected to arrive at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, by October. Ukraine’s leaders have asked for fighter jets from the West since the earliest days of the war. Loh said the Air National Guard assessed the three-month timeline based on training Ukrainian pilots received on Fresno, California-based F-15Cs, another advanced Air National Guard fighter jet. That exposure allowed the Air National Guard to assess that Ukraine’s aviators were already using more Western tactics in flying and that it would not take long to bring them up to speed, Loh said. The nine-month timeframe is the estimate to get pilots with no previous fighter jet experience flying the F-16s, Loh said.

---

Persons: Michael Loh, they’ll, ” Loh, Loh, “, David Allvin, Sen, Richard Blumenthal, Conn, Allvin, Bradley, ” Allvin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: U.S . Air National Guard, Morris Air National Guard Base, Air Force Association, “, NATO, Air Force, Senate Armed Services Committee, Kyiv, Air National Guard Locations: Md, U.S, Tucson , Arizona, National Harbor , Maryland, Tucson, Ukraine, Europe, Russia, Ukrainian, “, Fresno , California