“The West is creating more and more crisis points”: how the situation around the supply of aircraft to Kyiv is developing

Ukrainian troops received British Sea King helicopters.

This was announced by the Minister of Defense of the country Alexei Reznikov in his Twitter.

His statement was also published on the Telegram channel of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Reznikov did not name the number of Sea Kings transferred by London.

According to the minister, helicopters will be used in the Black Sea.

Reznikov thanked his British colleague Ben Wallace and called the delivery a "powerful reinforcement" of the Ukrainian Navy.

London's decision to transfer Sea King became known at the end of last year.

Initially, it was assumed that the Kyiv regime would receive three Sea Kings in an outdated Westland WS-61 modification.

These machines were produced by the British under license from the American company Sikorsky.

Sea Kings are designed to perform transport, search, rescue, landing and reconnaissance missions.

"Brakes Released"

The transfer of Sea King is the first delivery of Western-made manned aircraft to the Kyiv regime since the start of the NWO, experts interviewed by RT say.

“The United Kingdom is the second sponsor of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the United States.

The British are trying to transfer to Kyiv almost everything they can without harming themselves.

This approach is in line with the general course of the West to remove barriers to expanding the range of military equipment, ”RISI expert Sergey Ermakov said in a commentary to RT.

However, in his opinion, the appearance of the Sea King in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is unable to change the operational situation in the Black Sea.

For such purposes, Kyiv will need a large number of ships, rocket launchers, air defense and aircraft.

“Helicopters must act as an element of a common system, otherwise they will be vulnerable and will not be able to fundamentally change anything in the theater of operations.

I think that Sea King will be used to monitor the situation in the Black Sea, but they will not fly far from the coast of Ukraine.

The situation in the water area will continue to be under the control of the Russian fleet,” Yermakov said.

The analyst expects that the UK will continue to supply Kyiv with other types of rotorcraft, but not in the most modern modifications.

So, in mid-January, The Mirror newspaper reported on the plans of the kingdom to send Ukraine AH-64 Apache attack helicopters equipped with Hellfire missiles.

However, as the Sky News channel later reported, official London denied this information.

However, the Russian Embassy in the UK admits that the government of the kingdom will transfer the AH-64 Apache to the Kyiv regime.

• US Air Force AH-64 Apache

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Smith Collection/Gado

“I would not want to speculate, but now, since many brakes have been released, nothing can be ruled out, at some stage there may be Apache, in the end,” said Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin on the Russia 24 TV channel. January 19.

The AH-64 Apache was developed in the 1970s by the American company Hughes Helicopters.

The machine is equipped with a single-barreled automatic gun type M230 caliber 30 mm and rocket weapons, which are located on four hardpoints.

Each node holds up to 700 kg of ammunition.

Guided missiles AH-64 Apache allow you to hit targets outside the range of MANPADS.

In addition to Hellfire, the helicopter can use Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and other precision-guided munitions.

The AH-64 Apache has been upgraded several times.

At the same time, according to experts, in many respects the American machine is inferior to the improved Russian Ka-52M Alligator reconnaissance and attack helicopter.

This machine can strike not only at ground targets, but also at air targets.

For example, to conduct air combat with aircraft, the Alligator is capable of using Igla-V guided missiles.

Another type of manned aircraft that Kyiv can get is the F-16 multifunctional combat aircraft.

In particular, this issue was discussed during the debate in the national parliament of the Netherlands on 19 January.

The next day, during a press conference, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that at the moment the government of the kingdom does not plan to transfer F-16s to the Ukrainian Air Force.

Earlier, the possibility of supplying these fighters, as well as A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, was discussed by the US authorities.

Nevertheless, Washington also did not make a positive decision on this issue. 

• American aircraft F-16

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto

At the same time, Washington's new $2.5 billion military aid package to Kyiv provides for the supply of armored vehicles, HARM anti-radar missiles, ammunition for NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems, HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, and artillery installations.

In an interview with RT, a retired military expert, Colonel Anatoly Matviychuk, said that the Pentagon's hesitations regarding the supply of aircraft to Ukraine are associated with the high cost and duration of the cycle of equipping the Ukrainian Armed Forces with F-16 fighters or other combat vehicles.

From his point of view, the training of pilots and engineering staff could take two to three years.

In addition, Ukraine will need to create a new material base for the operation and maintenance of Western-made aircraft.

“All the subtleties and nuances of the F-16 can really be transferred to Kyiv only after at least two years.

If the Americans still want to speed up the process of re-equipping Ukraine with the F-16, then they will have to put pilots from NATO countries who are well acquainted with this aircraft into the cockpit of fighters, ”says Matviychuk.

He admits that pilots of the Air Forces of Poland and Great Britain may be suitable for this role, but this will mean the direct involvement of NATO in an armed conflict with Russia.

“The West is creating more and more crisis points on which Russia must make difficult decisions.

At the same time, the Americans cannot ignore the risks due to the situation when Russia potentially destroys the F-16 with the British pilot in it, moreover, in the territory that it considers its own.

After all, this is, in fact, an act of direct confrontation and aggression against Moscow,” Matviychuk emphasized.

According to Yermakov, there is currently a discussion in the West between those who are determined to "play for high stakes" and the "moderate camp", which is afraid of NATO being drawn into a clash with the Russian Federation.

“It is difficult to predict the outcome of the struggle between these poles of power.

So far, the West has not yet determined the level of confrontation to which it is ready to go.

In this context, a positive decision on the F-16 and other high-tech equipment will be an indicator of the victory of supporters of scaling up the conflict in Ukraine with unpredictable consequences," Yermakov explained.

Countermeasures

Experts do not rule out that in the near future NATO countries may concentrate their efforts on supplying the Kyiv regime with used aircraft, which is relatively easy to operate.

“Most likely, we will see the delivery of helicopters.

For some time they will be fragmented.

NATO will evaluate the effectiveness of the use of rotorcraft, adjust tactics.

Most likely, in the future, the volume of their imports will increase,” says Ermakov.

As the analyst explained, the alliance is guided by the belief that without cover and fire support from the air, the mechanized units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not able to conduct a major offensive operation.

Anatoly Matviychuk adheres to a similar point of view.

At the same time, he expressed confidence that the Russian army has enough means to counter NATO-made combat aircraft.

For this reason, the expert doubts that Western supplies are capable of changing the situation along the contact line.

“I do not think that this aircraft will be modern, have means of protection against air defense and electronic warfare systems.

Now the Russian Aerospace Forces and anti-aircraft gunners are quite successfully destroying the aircraft and helicopters remaining in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

If the enemy has more aircraft, then it is possible to saturate the front line with MANPADS and self-propelled anti-aircraft systems, and more often raise fighters for combat duty, ”concluded Matviychuk.