Ukraine needs at least 150 aircraft to replace its fleet - Air Force

This is reported by Defense Express.

Ukraine needs to continue upgrading its aircraft fleet, and about one and a half hundred aircraft of various types, including transport aircraft, are needed to replace it, said Illia Yevlash, spokesman for Ukraine's Air Force, answering a question about the recent statement by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the need for 120-130 F-16 multifunctional fighters.

Yevlash notes that the aircraft are needed to perform various tasks. “This includes patrolling the Ukrainian sky, destroying small targets, and using them as air defense systems. These would deter Russian aviation, which is currently terrorizing the border and frontline areas and striking with its own air defense systems.” He notes that Ukraine is striving for a complete rearmament of the fleet, but how quickly this will happen will depend on international partners.

Ukraine is to receive its first F-16 fighter jets this summer, although it is not yet known how many aircraft will be in the first batch. At the same time, the Dutch Defense Ministry recently reported that 10 Ukrainian soldiers had been trained to maintain these aircraft.

"There is never too much of this kind of specialist, and the first specialists in this field have already begun to return to Ukraine, where they will be able to share their experience directly with our guys who are on the territory of Ukraine... Of course, when a pilot takes to the skies on an F-16, he can say that he fully trusts his life to the engineer who maintains and provides this aircraft, as this work is key in the maintenance of such machines," says Yievlash.