Moonfish (pilot)

Moonfish is a Ukrainian military pilot of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Moonfish
Nickname(s)Moonfish (Мунфіш)
AllegianceUkraine Ukraine
Service/branch Ukrainian Air Force
Battles/warsRusso-Ukrainian War

Biography

As of June 2022, Moonfish was the commander of a squadron of Ukrainian MiG-29 fighters.[1]

In August 2023, Moonfish started a training course in the United Kingdom with plans to eventually fly an F-16.[2]

Advocacy efforts

In June 2022, Moonfish visited the US with another Ukrainian pilot, call sign Juice, to lobby for F-16s for Ukraine.[3] They met with several US lawmakers and explained which modern weapons systems were needed most in Ukraine.[4] Sean Penn accompanied the pilots in some of the meetings, to amplify their message.[5] The pilots met with Adam Kinzinger in his office in Washington, D.C.[6] As a result, Kinzinger introduced the «Ukraine Fighter Pilots Act» to the United States House of Representatives on June 17, 2022. The bill was cosponsored by other congressmembers.[7][8][9][10]

F-16 involvement

After months of advocacy to ensure F-16s for Ukraine, Moonfish was among the first Ukrainian pilots to start F-16 training in the US. He gave an extensive interview to Ukrainain TV describing the process.[11]

See also

References
  1. "F-16 мають замінити втрачені українські винищувачі". Ukrmilitary. 2022-06-22.
  2. Ілля Нежигай (2023-08-20). "При відборі враховували вік, досвід та знання англійської: пілот ЗСУ розповів про навчання на F-16". Факти.
  3. Johnson, Kimberly (June 27, 2022). "Ukrainian Pilots Visit U.S. To Lobby for Fighter Jets". Flying Magazine.
  4. McFall, Caitlin (June 24, 2022). "Top Gun Ukrainian pilots push US for jets, senator says lawmakers will 'press the case' with White House". Fox News.
  5. "Sean Penn helps Ukrainian fighter pilots lobby for US aid". MSN. June 25, 2022.
  6. "The Air Force has selected a group of pilots to train with Western fighter jets". Militarnyi. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  7. Gillespie, Maura (2022-06-17). "Kinzinger & Houlahan Introduce Ukraine Fighter Pilots Act". kinzinger.house.gov. Archived from the original on 2022-06-17.
  8. Kinzinger, Adam (2022-06-16). "To authorize appropriations to provide assistance and training to Ukrainian pilots, and for other purposes" (PDF). kinzinger.house.gov (bill). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-06-17.
  9. Kinzinger, Adam (2022-06-17). "H.R.8144 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Ukrainian Fighter Pilots Act". congress.gov.
  10. Malyasov, Dylan (2022-06-23). "Congressmen introduce bill to train Ukrainian fighter pilots". Defence Blog.
  11. "First Ukrainain Pilot on F-16 (TV interview transcript)". novynarnia.com. September 29, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.