Katerina Chernovol01:32, 03/07/24

Due to a shortage of pilots, at a certain stage Russia even brought back those who had retired.

During the full-scale war, Ukraine destroyed hundreds of Russian aircraft . Along with the expensive aircraft, the enemy is losing pilots – if at the beginning of the war lieutenant colonels and majors were at the controls, now they are senior lieutenants.

Reserve colonel, military expert and military pilot-instructor Roman Svitan spoke about this on Channel 24 . According to him, more or less intelligent professionals among the Russian pilots were eliminated in the first months of the war. The situation became so aggravated that the occupiers returned pilots who had already retired to the controls.

“The enemy had to return pilots who had already retired, but had a large number of flights – up to 2 thousand hours. A pilot with such experience, even after a long break, can regain his skills in about 2 weeks,” the specialist explained.

However, these pilots quickly ran out, so the Russians began allowing inexperienced pilots to fly.

“They can, in principle, fly, but are not yet professionals. In order to become one, you need to study for about 8 years. About 4 years of study at a flight school, then another 4 years you need to fly hundreds of hours to reach the level of a first-class pilot “Svitan emphasized.

The expert clarified that now senior lieutenants are sitting at the controls of Russian aviation. Next, the enemy will resort to accelerated graduation of cadets, whose training will be reduced from 4 years to 3, he believes.

“Today, the level of the Russian flight school is much lower than the old, Soviet one. The Russians do not have time to fill this niche, because so many pilots die, including due to their own professional unsuitability,” the pilot instructor summed up.

(C)UNIAN 2024