US Under Secretary of Defense for Political Affairs Colin Kahl told reporters during a press briefing that the Pentagon is considering transferring fighter jets to Kyiv.
However, as the official clarified, there is no final decision on this issue.
“However, I can say that the issue (on the transfer. -
RT
) of fighters remains on the negotiating table, it’s just that no final decisions have been made on it yet,” Kal said.
According to him, the United States is now seeking to supply Kyiv with those weapons systems "that Ukraine can maintain independently" and use to hold positions.
At the same time, Kahl noted that in the event of a positive decision, the process of transferring combat aircraft to Kyiv would stretch for years.
“As for future fighters, the fourth, say, generation, then even if we decided to transfer them now, it would take years to deliver,” the US Deputy Secretary of Defense said.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian leadership expects that in the future it will be able to radically upgrade its air forces with American assistance in the form of deliveries of combat aircraft.
“I am sure that the day will come when we will be able to say that the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has become not only one of the most combat-ready in the world, but also one of the most modern and technologically advanced,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said, speaking on August 7 in front of Ukrainian pilots.
“So far they haven’t given one”
As Oleg Panteleev, executive director of the Aviaport agency, explained in a RT commentary, the Pentagon soberly assesses the prospects for the supply of modern combat aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force.
According to the expert, the US Department of Defense is aware that the training of Ukrainian pilots, the training of engineering and technical personnel and the maintenance infrastructure will take several years.
“As practice shows, re-equipping with a new type of aircraft takes quite a long time, even in conditions when there are no hostilities.
In the case of Ukraine, the transition of the Air Force to the operation of Western aircraft is an almost impossible process, ”Panteleev believes.
According to the expert, the main problem of the Air Force of Ukraine is an acute shortage of flight personnel.
Correcting this situation requires years of methodical training of officers or the recruitment of mercenaries, says Panteleev.
A similar point of view in an interview with RT was expressed by military expert Vladislav Shurygin.
According to him, it will be difficult for the United States to create a combat-ready air group in Ukraine.
“Combat aviation is not only personnel familiar with the materiel.
This is a long-term study of the tactics of using one or another type of aircraft, this is an expensive and complex maintenance infrastructure.
Of course, all these measures can be accelerated, but then it is necessary to lay down heavy losses, and not only in battle, but simply due to operational errors, ”Shurygin explained.
It is worth noting that the issue of transferring combat aircraft to Kyiv, including F-16s, was discussed in the United States and Ukraine even before the Russian special operation.
For example, in September 2019, a statement by the commander of the US Air Force in Europe and Africa, General Jeffrey Lee Harrigian, about the need to supply American aircraft to Ukraine, caused a great resonance.
The military leader substantiated his opinion by the importance of increasing the interoperability of the US Air Force and Ukraine.
“What gives an American plane?
The potential for interoperability with the United States, ”Harrigyan emphasized at the time.
However, no real progress has been made on this issue.
In 2020, the command of the Ukrainian Air Force developed a plan for the development of aviation until 2035.
According to the document, during this period, Kyiv must decommission all Soviet aircraft currently in service, replacing them with one type of foreign-made 4++ generation multi-purpose combat platform.
In particular, the command of the Ukrainian Air Force intended to opt for the American F-16 Block 70/72 or the Swedish Saab JAS-39E / F Gripen fighter or other Western aircraft.
The agency estimated the estimated need for a new type of combat platform at 72-108 units.
For these purposes, as calculated by the military, 200 billion hryvnias are needed.
MiG-29 of the Air Force of Ukraine, shot down by Russian air defense systems
RIA News
© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
According to these plans, by 2035 the fleet of the Ukrainian Air Force was to include at least four brigades equipped with a unified 4++ generation multirole fighter.
After the start of the special operation, Kyiv did not report on the adjustment of the air force development plan.
However, the Ukrainian authorities have become much more insistent in urging the West to supply modern combat aircraft to Kyiv.
“You have thousands of combat aircraft!
But we haven’t been given a single one yet,” Zelensky was indignant, speaking on March 24 via videoconference at the NATO summit.
According to the Pentagon and Western media, after the start of the special operation, only a certain number of Soviet-made aircraft, as well as spare parts for them, were transferred to Ukraine.
These deliveries were made from NATO countries that were previously part of the Warsaw Pact.
The Americans themselves delivered HARM air-launched anti-radar missiles to Kyiv, adapting them for use from Soviet aircraft.
In the near future, the United States may decide on the supply of A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft.
Earlier this possibility was announced by US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendal, speaking at a security forum in Colorado.
Now Ukrainian pilots are learning to fly this aircraft in simulators.
However, at the official level, Kyiv refuses attack aircraft and continues to insist on the transfer of the F-16 to Ukraine.
“Kyiv's reluctance to accept Thunderbolt can be explained by the fact that it is much worse than the F-16.
This is a fairly old, low-speed aircraft.
It is very vulnerable to our air defense, electronic warfare (EW) and aviation, but the Americans are not yet offering another, ”Shurygin said.
It is worth noting that the new, record-breaking US military aid package, approved on August 24, does not include the cost of supplying aircraft for the Kyiv regime.
"It will take billions"
According to experts, the Zelensky regime is forced to ask for help from the allies, since Ukraine does not have the ability to independently produce operational-tactical aircraft and restore damaged samples.
During the Soviet period, a powerful Air Force grouping was located on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, but at the same time there were no aircraft manufacturing plants in the republic.
After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine became heavily dependent on Russia for the supply of high-quality components to maintain the combat readiness of its aviation.
A pair of combat aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
© General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The situation for the Air Force of Ukraine worsened significantly due to the break in military-technical relations with the Russian Federation in 2014-2015.
As a result, the defense complex of Ukraine carried out repairs and partial modernization of Soviet-made aircraft with great difficulty.
Before the start of the special operation, the Air Force of Ukraine had about 70 MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters, 30 Su-25 attack aircraft, 15 Su-24 front-line bombers and about ten Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft.
Such data are provided in the report The Military Balance 2021, located in the UK, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, more than 270 Ukrainian aircraft were destroyed during the special operation.
However, the military department only cites the total number of aircraft losses, without indicating the number of destroyed fighters and other types of combat vehicles.
According to Vladislav Shurygin, in essence, Kyiv has no combat aviation now.
A very small number of surviving aircraft remained in the Air Force of Ukraine, the expert explained.
“Naturally, the Kyiv regime would like to change the situation by getting the F-16.
But if the United States gives Kyiv its old modifications, then they will not have an impact on the actual course of hostilities, ”Shurygin said.
In turn, Oleg Panteleev admits that the United States may make a positive decision on the supply of F-16 or other aircraft to Kyiv.
However, the expert doubts that the Pentagon will hand over a wide range of modern weapons to the Ukrainians along with aircraft equipment.
“The effect of aircraft without a large number of high-precision and long-range weapons will be minimal.
Only such a weapon hypothetically allows its carrier not to enter the air defense zone.
In any case, it will take billions to re-equip the Ukrainian Air Force, and I don’t think that as a result, Kyiv will receive aviation that can really oppose the allied forces,” Panteleev concluded.