By Alexandra Elias, Warrior Contributor, Military Historian
The U.S. recently confirmed that it would allow the transfer of F-16s from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine. This is in addition to F-16s already committed by Poland and Slovakia. If all goes according to plan, Ukraine will receive dozens of F-16s by the end of 2023. This has understandably sent shockwaves through the media, with many speculating that adding F-16s to Ukraine’s fleet will be either a game changer or a flop. I’m not in the business of fortune telling, but judging from the persistent requests for the planes on the part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy it seems obvious that Ukrainian leadership is in the former camp and has been anticipating their arrival for some time. The question, then, is how Ukraine will prepare its pilots for the addition of this new aircraft.
It might be odd to think of the F-16 as “new.” The F-16 Flying Falcon is one of the most commonly used fighter aircraft in the world. Now manufactured by Lockheed Martin, it is no longer purchased by the U.S. Air Force but still produced for export customers. It is however new to Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force largely relies on Soviet-era aircraft received after the independence in 1991. While Ukraine’s MIG-29 Fulcrums and SU-27 Flankers were from the same generation as the F-16, they are far less modernized than Russia’s variants–Ukraine’s planes have shorter radar range and cannot use modern equipment. Ukraine was able to counter Russian air supremacy despite this disparity through ground-air defense systems and aggressive and costly tactics on the part of pilots. Losses fell in 2023, but Ukraine’s current aircraft and pilots remain irreplaceable due to low numbers and the difficulty of obtaining new Soviet-era aircraft. F-16s may not change the war completely, but they will put Ukraine on a more even footing.
The question, then, is how Ukrainian pilots and maintainers will be trained on F-16s. Traditionally, training a military pilot for a new platform takes some time. While Ukranian F-16 pilots would already be used to a fighter platform they will have to get used to new weapons systems and even interfaces–for example, a switch from analog dials to multi-function displays in the cockpit. While the United States and the Netherlands have pledged to train a limited number of pilots, it takes at least four to five years to build full proficiency. According to Air Force Gen. David Hecker in an article from ABC News, this won’t “be the silver bullet that all of a sudden they’re going to start taking down SA-21 because they have an F-16.”
Time is precisely what the Ukrainian Air Force does not have. What it does have, however, is a strategy of repurposing civilian technology to military ends. This is already evident in its integration of hobby drones into its air strategy. In their free time between sorties Ukrainian pilots are currently using civilian flight simulator equipment to get used to the F-16’s cockpit and capabilities. A video on the Ukrainian Air Force YouTube channel shows pilots training with a Meta Quest 2 VR headset plugged into a gaming computer. The pilot is sitting on a gaming chair that would appear more at home on a Twitch stream than in a military office. The Meta Quest 2 currently retails for $299.99 USD, making it much more accessible than conventional military simulator technology. The control interfaces–flight stick, throttle, and rudder–are definitely on the high end of the hobby spectrum but are still affordable in context. The software they are using is Digital Combat Simulator: World (DCS), a popular military flight sim available on mainstream PC gaming sites. Its multiplayer capabilities enable pilots to practice joint missions. Just as importantly this system allows pilots to practice conducting operations in English, which will be necessary during F-16 training.
Flight simulator technology has reached the point where the U.S.A.F. also uses it in a limited capacity–for example, DCS has been used by some A-10 units. However this is as a cheap addition to full traditional simulator training for already seasoned pilots, not a full replacement for purposes of shifting airframes. The Ukrainian Air Force reports that while it will want real simulators on Ukrainian soil “everything starts small.” It is no surprise that the military organization that recruited civilian drone operators to destroy tanks is now using popular computer games to practice air-to-air combat.
