Ukraine now wants this weapon from Germany and Britain, Egypt and Turkey want to send ambassadors again

In order to adequately protect its airspace against Russian attacks, Ukraine needs a well-functioning fighter jet fleet. Just a few days ago, Russian authorities reported the destruction of five Ukrainian fighter jets at an air base in the west of the country in the Khmelnitsky region. Thus, the Russian invaders managed to deal a heavy blow to the Ukrainian air defenses.

It is therefore clear that Ukraine needs operational fighter jets to protect its airspace and thus its population against Russian cruise missiles and Iranian-made Shahed drones fired from Russian territory. She also needs the planes to successfully carry out her counteroffensive. Now Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has taken a further step in the issue of fighter jet supply.

“If Britain and Germany pooled their capabilities for the Eurofighter, it would be an important step,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group and the French newspaper “Ouest France”. Until now, the discussion about the delivery of fighter jets has always been about the American F-16. The US has already agreed to train Ukrainian pilots on this weapon system. However, no decision has yet been made on the delivery of the jets.

The F-16 is considered one of the most advanced fighter jets in service today. For Ukraine, the delivery of this type would mean a huge leap forward, because according to Western experts, the F-16s are technologically superior to the Russian jets. Particularly in terms of weapons systems, the F-16 is “decades ahead” of Russian-type machines, General Philipp Breedlove told the trade journal “Airandspace”.

So far, Ukraine has already received a number of Mig-29s from the stockpiles of the Polish and Slovak armies. Western-made machines allowed them to protect their airspace more effectively. Ukrainian Defense Minister Resnikov therefore counts on a broad coalition of partners, comparable to the supply of tanks to the country.

For example, as a core model of tank deliveries, Ukraine received the German Leopard 2, but also the American Abrams M-1 and the British Challenger. Likewise, one could form a jet fighter coalition with the core model F-16, Eurofighters and Swedish Gripen jets, Ukraine’s defense minister said.

By mid-month, Germany and Britain had ruled out the supply of fighter jets to Ukraine for the foreseeable future. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on May 17 at a press conference with German Defense Secretary Boris Pistorius (SPD) in Berlin that Eurofighters in the British fleet are not suitable. In the short term, it is more important to equip Ukraine with capabilities comparable to combat aircraft, he said.

However, the question is whether and to what extent the Bundeswehr could supply Eurofighters to Ukraine at all. Although the forces advertise the fighter jet as an advanced and effective weapon system as the “backbone of the German fighter fleet”, it is not known how many of the 138 aircraft in the Luftwaffe’s inventory are currently operational.

In recent years, there have been repeated reports of the jet’s lack of operational capability. Sometimes only 42 of the 109 aircraft were operational, sometimes technical defects caused commotion. The Eurofighter was therefore seen by many as a “bad luck” aircraft.

The German Bundeswehr is trying to allay concerns about the defense readiness of its air fleet. As Lieutenant Colonel Jürgen Schumann announced in a Bundeswehr podcast at the beginning of this year, the Eurofighters can both fulfill international obligations within the framework of NATO (five machines in the Baltic States, six in Romania) and provide national defense. For the “entire German airspace surveillance” there are currently “eight aircraft ready”.

Jet fighter pilot Schumann did not say what happened to the other approximately 120 Eurofighters. Just that some of the jets go through regular industry maintenance intervals.

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(t-online, cc)