Many of us who follow aerospace and defence pay a lot of attention to the war in Ukraine, and particularly new tactics and capabilities.

Our episode today is an effort to discuss the transformation that the Ukrainian Air Force is making from former Soviet Union or Russian aircraft to western fighter aircraft.

Ukraine has been defending themselves against Russian forces since they invaded Crimea in 2014, and then re-attacked in early 2022.

At the start of the war Ukraine had around 125 warplanes. Reports indicate that have lost around 80 jets, but numbers of aircraft have been bolstered by the donation of similar types of aircraft from some of the former Soviet states. 

There is no doubt that Ukrainian pilots have performed heroically against overwhelming odds. With that said, the Ukrainian Air Force has faced significant challenges with aging fleets of aircraft and sustainment issues which make their fleets increasingly difficult to field.

Ukraine has therefore spent many months lobbying for western combat aircraft, especially F-16's, which they believe will help them better defend their country.

A number of countries like Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands and Norway, have pledged F-16s to Ukraine; and Ukrainian Air Force pilots have been training in a number of countries to get proficient on flying the western jet, with Denmark being one of those countries.

For this episode, I thought it would be informative to get a sense of what Ukrainian pilots are experiencing as they transition to a new platform like the F-16.

To do this I am pleased to introduce a wonderful friend to me and to this podcast, fighter pilot Nick Graham, who flew the Tornado F3 and the Eurofighter Typhoon in the Royal Air Force (RAF), and also the F-16 when on exchange in Denmark.

I've asked Nick to participate in this chat because his experience of learning to fly the F-16 in Denmark provides excellent insight on what Ukrainian pilots are experiencing as they shift from MiG and Sukhoi aircraft to the F-16.

I am very thankful to Nick for taking the time to share his professional fighter pilot experience, and his insight and perspectives on this topic.

We wish Ukraine success in their fight to defend their country!

Go Bold!