Will Ukraine win the war with new fighter jets?

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Ukraine can only resist the Russian army because it receives modern war material from the West. Tanks, defense systems, ammunition, clothing and other equipment have been delivered so far. What was missing: fighter jets.

Now Poland and Slovakia have decided to deliver part of their fleet to their attacked neighbours. The most important questions and answers.

Ukraine has been demanding for months not only tanks and artillery, but also warplanes from the West to defend itself against Russian missile attacks and to recapture the territories occupied by Russia. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Andriy Melnyk (47) tweeted: “Victory for Ukraine is hard to imagine without a modern air force. That is why we urgently need Western fighter jets, such as the F-16 and F-35, but also the Eurofighter and the Tornado.” The Ukrainian Air Force needs two squadrons, each with twelve fighters, for a total of 24 jets.

On Thursday, Polish President Andrzej Duda, 50, announced that he would initially deliver four Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine within four to six weeks. The machines are to be replaced by modern fighter jets, which Poland has ordered from South Korea and the US. Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger (46) also announced on Friday that his country will deliver jet aircraft of the same type. It’s about ten working machines and three planes with no engines that need to be cannibalized for spare parts.

At the end of February, US President Joe Biden (80) stated that Ukraine does not need US jets “for now”. But what the country needs in the future is not known, he added ambiguously. Security adviser John Kirby (60) made it clear on Thursday that the Polish delivery does not change the American decision. Washington and NATO see munitions, anti-aircraft systems and heavy weapons as priorities for a possible spring counter-offensive.

There are concerns that a delivery of fighter jets carries a high risk of escalation and that maintenance will also be extremely difficult. There are also no US long-range missiles for a similar reason. The Americans want to prevent the Ukrainians from attacking targets in Russia.

Even if the jets were delivered quickly, they would have no impact on the course of the war in the foreseeable future. The problem: the Ukrainian pilots must first be trained. Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal, 47, said training would take “six months or more”. Ukraine is convinced that the deployment of modern jets will bring about change in the longer term.

The Kremlin criticized the “increasing involvement” of NATO countries in the war in Ukraine. “The delivery of this military equipment, as we have repeated so many times, will not affect the outcome of the military special operation,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, 55. And he warned: “Of course this equipment will be destroyed.”

Source: Blick