It might seem that the most difficult part of transitioning to new equipment would be training pilots. As it turns out, it's the opposite: Ukrainian pilots learn to operate Western helicopters in just two to three hours. The real barrier, however, lies elsewhere—with engineers, technicians, and... the English language.
This was revealed in an interview with LIGA.net by Pavlo Bardakov, commander of Army Aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine's Ground Forces, a brigadier general.
"Based on the concept of any aircraft, helicopter, everything is similar. And the principles of control are the same. It's like switching, perhaps, from a Tavriya to a Mercedes. In other words, the same thing. There's a steering wheel, pedals, a seat," Bardakov explained.
Why pilots adapt quickly
According to the general, any pilot, upon entering the cockpit of a Western helicopter, masters the controls literally within a few hours—the principles of flight are universal for all aircraft. The difference actually works in the pilot's favor: foreign helicopters have greater power reserves, more developed autopilot systems, and limitation systems that prevent exceeding safe flight modes—protecting against excessive banking or acceleration.
These aircraft also allow for more complex combat missions thanks to modern avionics and cutting-edge weapons and navigation systems.
Where the real problem lies
The biggest challenge is not in the pilot's cabin, but in the hangar. This concerns the training of engineering and technical personnel responsible for repairs and maintenance of equipment. Here the difference is not in details, but in philosophy.
"It's a completely different philosophy of servicing Soviet equipment and servicing modern Western-standard equipment deployed by NATO countries. These are completely different approaches. And we understand that all of this is in English," Bardakov stated.
This refers to technical documentation, accompanying materials, and work with foreign instructors. This requires not a conversational level of English, but knowledge of specific technical and aviation terminology—plus deeper technical training, since in some respects Western helicopters are objectively more complex than their Soviet counterparts.
Earlier, Bardakov said that American Black Hawk helicopters are being modernized to replace Soviet helicopters for Army Aviation according to the requirements of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
If pilot training takes hours and technician retraining takes months due to language and conceptual barriers, it is precisely the pace of engineering personnel training that will determine how quickly Army Aviation can fully transition to a Western helicopter fleet.
