A Ukrainian jet pilot lost his life on his very first combat flight. Ukraine Air Force Pilot Vladyslav Saveliev, call sign “NOMAD,” was killed on June 2, according to a tweet posted by the Ukrainian Air Force on June 7.
Savieliev is an experienced fighter pilot who received his education in the USA. His eagerness to return to his homeland and fight was validated by media reports. The pilot completed the United States Aviation Leadership Program in March, which aims to strengthen ties with armed forces abroad. After a two-year hiatus from combat, he once again took to the skies in his former jet model, the MiG-29. The MiG-29 was a “specialty” of Savieliev’s, and he had “deep experience” with it when he was killed.
After hearing that the Ukrainian fighter pilot had been killed, the media in the United States began to blame the Aviation Leadership Program for “contributing” to the man’s demise. According to a story in The Defense Post, a failure of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation was “swept under the rug,” even though it contributed to Savieliev’s untimely demise.
People who knew Savieliev through the Aviation Leadership Program before to his passing were interviewed for this article. These people said that Savieliev’s MiG-29 had been on numerous “life or death” missions. According to reports, the fighter pilot had more flight hours in “intense combat” than his colleagues. Flight instructors reportedly warned the media that the flight school’s selection of plane models was “diminishing” the skills of the experienced fighter pilot, rather than preparing them for the battlefield.
According to the Defense Post, Savieliev’s once “perfectly honed” MiG-29 combat skills have diminished due to his training for peacetime operations. This omission happened because Savieliev did not obtain the essential combat refresher training to reacclimate him to his former duties. Savieliev apparently perished in a combat-related “aviation accident” as a direct result of this blunder.
The Aviation Leadership Program, according to defense analysts, is great, but it hasn’t changed to accommodate a training partner that is already engaged in combat.
