Ukraine's air defense needs to be both effective and economical — expert

Serhii Hrabskyi, military expert, peacekeeping mission participant, and Ukrainian Armed Forces reserve colonel, stated this on Espreso TV.

"10 aircraft (Poland will transfer up to ten MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine - ed.) is not very many, and if we're talking about attacks with dozens of missiles, these 10 aircraft will hardly be able to cover the entire airspace. But at the same time, we need to understand that even this assistance is critically important for us, because this isn't just about air defense - it's about striking enemy territory and building up Ukraine's air force grouping. This is a critically important element for us, so every aircraft is worth its weight in gold for us," he said.

Serhii Hrabskyi noted that air defense must be both effective and economical.

"We also need to understand that air defense, if we're talking specifically about air defense in the state we currently see it, must be effective and, let's say, economical. What does this mean? Well, imagine whether an aircraft like the MiG-29 will chase after every single drone. That would be very expensive, and the cost of missiles that equip such aircraft for each individual drone is disproportionately high. Therefore, the transfer of these particular aircraft (MiG-29s from Poland - ed.) is viewed by us as an element of temporary reinforcement of air defense at this stage, with future use, as I mentioned, in combat operations and suppression of enemy systems. But air defense, if we speak in a global context, doesn't only consist of repelling the aggressor's airborne targets that have already taken off and are heading toward our cities and villages. It also includes destroying objects on enemy territory so that those missiles and drones simply don't take off. And this is the essence of, let's say, our offensive air defense concept for striking enemy territory. Only in this case, in the case of active countermeasures against the enemy, can we talk about a more or less stable situation," he added.