The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry promises to “work” with the Western population in order to knock out the supply of fighters
In order for Ukraine to receive Western fighters, among other problems, it is also necessary to resolve the issue of training Western society.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrey Melnik told Ukrayinskaya Pravda about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to Melnik, preparing the Western population will take several months.
“In fact, for our partners this is - I won’t say it’s a red line, but it’s an issue that they need some time to just rethink. I can give a forecast. I think that we will resolve this issue over the next months.
Here we are talking not only about exclusively military issues, not only about pilot training, that is, a number of practical issues that must be taken into account, but also there are some very delicate political issues, as with regard to long-range missiles.
We need to prepare the societies in these states so that the government will feel when they make this decision that the public will be on their side. This is important for every state,” Melnik said.
According to military analyst Ilya Kramnik, the supply of fighters by Western countries, even if such a decision is made, will not be large-scale or fast. In his blog, he explains this by the fact that in Europe the number of available and serviceable aircraft tends to zero, the pace of training of Ukrainian personnel to service fighters gives reason to assume that only one squadron will be transferred.
Another problem is the lack of infrastructure necessary to service Western aircraft.
“What can be delivered? The remaining Soviet fighters could be transferred if, for example, the same Poles are persuaded to transfer the MiG-29 by giving them additional F-16s, which the Poles already know how to fly and which they already know how to repair. Light training vehicles of the L-39 type can be supplied, which can be relatively quickly converted into carriers of the JDAM type UAB. In total, this is up to several dozen sides, which do not fundamentally change the balance of forces.
What can be supplied quickly and in large quantities? US Air Force Reserve F-16s with American personnel and "volunteer" and "vacation" pilots. In fact, this is the reverse of the Korean scenario, but such involvement in the conflict so far contradicts the entire observed policy of the United States, which seeks to shift the burden of direct participation as much as possible onto Europe. Europe has nothing to supply quickly and in large quantities,” writes Kramnik.
He notes that the locations where Western aircraft are based will become vulnerable to Russian strikes.
“Regardless of what exactly will be delivered, in order to preserve the fleet it will have to be based in the so-called Rzeszow, making sorties using the jump airfields near Vinnitsa/Khmelnytsky. Otherwise, reducing this fleet to a minimum number of aircraft making 1-2 flights per day will simply be a matter of time – due to the work of the Kalibrs and other long-range means,” the expert concluded.
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