VR to Enhance Training for Ukrainian F-16 Pilots

Ukraine has been bolstering its fleet with modern F-16 fighter jets from NATO member countries, making pilot training one of the most urgent priorities. However, limited spots in overseas training centers are slowing progress.

The Dogfight Boss simulator, now installed at an airbase near Kyiv, allows Ukrainian pilots to experience realistic flight environments in the F-16C Viper. Using VR headsets, pilots can engage with virtual adversaries while interacting with real cockpit instruments, significantly improving training efficiency. This new tool is expected to greatly reduce training time while enhancing the overall quality, helping the Ukrainian Air Force train more highly skilled pilots.

While the VR simulator does not address all challenges (such as the need for English proficiency), it enables pilots to train locally, within Ukraine, which has been a war zone since the russian invasion in February 2022.

In a LinkedIn post, Dogfight Boss highlighted that the simulator has already received positive feedback, although there is a pressing need for additional units to support joint training scenarios. The company suggests that Ukraine could receive at least eight more virtual simulators in the future. 

For years, Finnish company Varjo, known for its mixed reality headsets, and Czech company Dogfight Boss, which builds flight simulator cockpits, have collaborated with defense clients. Varjo’s XR headsets are used by astronauts and pilots of Apache, Chinook, and Blackhawk helicopters. Both companies are also official partners in the U.S. Army's Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer (RVCT) program.