After securing the supply of tanks, Ukraine is eyeing fighter jets
Ukraine Defense Minister’s adviser said on Wednesday that Ukraine after securing the supply of main battle tanks USAwill try to buy fourth generation western fighter jets like F-16.
With Germany announcing plans to supply Kiev with heavy tanks on Wednesday Ukraine gained great support for his troops. The United States is ready to make a similar announcement.
“The next big obstacle now will be fighter jets,” Yuri Sak, who advises Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikova, told Reuters by phone.
Ukraine Military Weather The force has a fleet of old Soviet-era fighter jets that rolled off the assembly line before Kiev declared independence more than 31 years ago. Fighter interception missions and Russia used to attack their positions.
“If we get them (Western fighter jets), the advantages on the battlefield will be simply enormous… It’s not just the F-16s (USA (multirole combat aircraft): fourth-generation aircraft, that’s what we want.”
of the West military support Kyiv was vital for and developed rapidly during the war. Before the invasion, the idea of delivering even lethal aid to Ukraine was highly controversial, but Western supplies have since shattered taboo after taboo.
“They didn’t want to give us heavy artillery, then they did. They didn’t want to give us Himars systems, then they did. They didn’t want to give us tanks, now they are giving us tanks. Besides. there is nothing left that we cannot get from nuclear weapons,” Sak said.
Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia last February, also said it wants to buy long-range missiles from the West.
After Germany approved the supply of Leopard 2 tanks, the mainstay of Europe’s armies, to Ukraine on Wednesday, Moscow, of Ukraine reacted strongly with a decision to strengthen the offensive force.
Justin Bronk, a researcher at the RUSI analytical center in London, said that Ukraine Military Weather Its forces would greatly benefit from Western fighters in terms of air-to-air and potentially air-to-ground lethality.
But he said on Twitter that they are still Russia from the surface weather to their missiles would be at high risk, forcing them to fly very low near the front line, which would “drastically reduce effective missile range and limit strike options.”
Despite the lack of any noticeable movement on this issue, the Ukrainian Air Force was eager for better aircraft throughout the war.
A Ukrainian pilot code-named Juice told Reuters last month that many of his Air Force peers take English lessons in their spare time in the hope that Kiev will one day buy foreign aircraft such as the F-16 fighter jet.
Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Edited by William Maclean
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2023-01-25 20:47:55
Source – reuters
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