Discussions on Western aircraft for Ukraine move faster than we realize – military expert Kyrychevskyi

He shared his opinion with Espreso TV. 

“If we talk about the practical course of the discussion on the delivery of combat aircraft, we need to understand that while Kyiv believes that we need some kind of universal aircraft that can perform several tasks at once, our allies seem to see the picture as diametrically opposite. They believe that it is better to provide us with several types of specialized aircraft, each of which will perform its own task. For example, the Slovak MiG-29 SM will be used for air defense, while the Mirage 2000 and Tornado strike aircraft, which are also being discussed, will enhance our strike capabilities,” the military expert commented.

Ivan Kyrychevskyi noted that when Western allies say that we should wait a few months before starting the process of transferring aircraft, they mean that it is necessary to prepare before we can see Western aircraft with the insignia of the Ukrainian Air Force.

“In fact, the discussions on the Western combat aircraft to Ukraine are moving faster than we realize. Of course, there are sensitive issues that make our Western allies prefer to discuss this behind closed doors. If we talk about Slovakia, they will essentially give us Russian weapons, not Soviet ones, and therefore they want compensation not only financially but also in terms of security. As for other countries, all their aircraft are scheduled either for NATO missions or for the protection of their own airspace, so they need to have time to compare a certain defense balance. That is, there are many nuances that make no one in a hurry to speak in advance. However, at the same time, there are practical signals coming through. For example, the fact that our pilots will be able to use the JDAM guided bombs provided by the United States indicates that the prospect of aircraft delivery is realistic. But there is a nuance that, before the war, we did not have such specialists who could work with such weapons. Accordingly, we can conclude that the process of training our pilots to master Western aircraft could have already begun. Even on such a narrow example as the launch of JDAM bombs,” Kyrychevskyi said.

• On February 24, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that negotiations were underway to train the Ukrainian military on F-16s and to obtain the aircraft with three more European countries.

• Slovakia is the first NATO country getting ready to hand over 10 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.