MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. Ukrainian pilots are already undergoing flight training with instructors on US-made F-16 fighter jets, Ukrainian Air Force Spokesman Yury Ignat said on Friday.

"Pilots are already undergoing flight training on F-16s. Not all of them, of course. Some pilots are already being trained on combat jets with instructors," he said.

According to Ignat, the training process is proceeding as scheduled. "The NATO partners wish to announce everything and give details on the training process," he said.

Ignat said on October 22 that Ukrainian military pilots who were learning to operate F-16 fighter jets would soon proceed to training flights on combat planes with instructors, after which they would be able to operate the jets on their own. He did not disclose, however, which specific NATO country was hosting the Ukrainian pilots’ training.

Ukraine has long been asking its Western partners to supply F-16 fighter jets, but the West has consistently maintained that such planes could not be transferred to Ukraine until Kiev’s pilots and ground crews underwent relevant training. Several countries have said that they are ready to take part in programs for the training of Ukrainian pilots. Thus, the Pentagon said in late September that the training of Ukrainian pilots had already begun in Denmark.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted that F-16 jets could reach Ukraine no earlier than the spring of 2024. Kiev says that it hopes that it will receive these fighter jets in the first half of 2024.