Getting more F-16s is only half the battle. Ukraine also desperately needs to be training more pilots.

The total number of trained Ukrainian pilots and those still undergoing training is not officially known, but there are indications that the number is not enough for Ukraine’s needs.

Politico reported in June that Ukraine’s Western partners did not have the number of training spaces that Ukraine wanted for its pilots. It reported that 30 Ukrainian pilots were ready for training, but the US training program could not accept them all.

The report said that a total of 20 Ukrainian F-16 pilots were expected to graduate by the end of this year — half of what a former US defense official said Ukraine would need to operate a full squadron of jets.

A Ukrainian lawmaker accused the US of “deliberately delaying” training and creating a situation where there would be “fewer trained pilots than fighter jets.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy then said in August, when the first F-16s arrived in his country, that Ukraine did not have enough trained pilots or enough of the jets themselves. “The number of F-16s we have in Ukraine, the number of pilots who have already been trained, is not enough,” he said.

Other partners appear to have training restrictions, too.

Likely not every pilot is up to the task, and that’s a problem. “When you train someone who’s a great pilot in one plane and transition ’em to a new plane, it’s a hard change for a lot of people,” Bohnert said, explaining that the solution is to “put more pilots through training.”

He said that there’s a need to “get a higher number and be pretty clear that it’s okay to wash half the out and say: ‘Sorry, you’re not good enough. You need more time.'”

Bohnert said Ukraine’s partners would ideally have three pilots being trained for every aircraft. It’s not clear how many pilots are being trained for each of the F-16s promised to Ukraine, but it appears short of that expectation.

Training to that level of excess, Bohnert said, would give Ukraine options and lighten what is already a heavy load as it builds its new fighter fleet.

F-16s comes with challenges

Air warfare experts expect the F-16s to be a big boost for Ukraine, but they have cautioned that they likely won’t be game-changers.

Ukraine is receiving a smaller number than what its leadership and partners say it needs to be able to take risks, like the West does, and challenge Russia’s larger, more capable air force.

Bohnert said the number of F-16s Ukraine is getting from its partners is “definitely not enough.” Zelenskyy said in May that his air force needed about 120 to 130 advanced fighter aircraft to challenge Russia in the air.

The challenges that Ukraine’s armed forces face have been exacerbated by the delay in their arrival, many warfare experts have said. Ukraine asked for the jets soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, but the US long refused to budge.

The wait for permission to come gave Russia time to prepare and meant programs like training could not begin earlier.

The F-16s that Ukraine is receiving are also older models that don’t come with the latest upgrades and don’t quite stack up against some of Russia’s best jets.

Ukraine’s F-16 fighters, despite being capable combat-proven platforms, are a generation behind the newest fighters, like the F-35s the US and its allies are operating or Russia’s Su-57s, and they would likely be outmatched by some of the fourth-gens like Russia’s Su-35s. And without the stealth capabilities of the fifth-gen jets, it’s also vulnerable to modern Russian surface-to-air missile systems.

Bohnert said Ukraine’s newly acquired F-16s, which the US Air Force says cost somewhere between $14 million to $18 million, are “older airframes with not a lot of life left,” though he said that “doesn’t mean they’re bad.” It just limits what’s possible.

Experts say that the jets, despite their limits, will help Ukraine, particularly against incoming drone and missile attacks.

Gordon said that ultimately “they are making a difference now, and more and more will help them make more of a difference.”