What jets does Zelensky expect from the UK and France?

9 February 20231 year ago babelfish

The Ukrainian president has again urged European leaders to supply fighter jets for the war against Russia. Here's what jets the UK, France and Germany could send according to Tricarico and Gaiani

Zelensky once again urges EU leaders to supply fighter jets.

Today the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking before the European Parliament – the first stage of his historic mission to Brussels – asked for further military support and a rapid process for the country's accession to the EU.

The Ukrainian leader went to Brussels, after urging the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom to supply fighter planes for the war against Russia.

But which hunts are we talking about?

“Ukrainians have made it known that they prefer F-16 fighters. They are American jets that Ukraine hopes to receive from European countries that recently banned them because they are receiving new F-35s. In reality neither France, Germany nor the UK have F-16s. So the Air Force said it wanted F-16s but they are targeting countries that have never had them,” observes Gianandrea Gaiani, director of Defense Analysis .

"In any case, the choice of modern fighter jets is an initiative that can change the balance significantly in favor of Ukraine, more than any other means that has so far been provided to Zelensky" comments General Leonardo Tricarico, president of the ICSA Foundation former Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

All the details.

ZELENSKY'S REQUEST FOR JETS

Zelensky, on a visit to the UK yesterday, said he was "proud" of its air force, but also said he needed planes to fight the war against Russia. He did so by speaking to Parliament in London, re-launching the call for British warplanes, saying: "We have freedom, give us wings to protect it."

For the Ukrainian president, fighter jets and long-range missiles are important in addition to the Leopard 2 tanks he will receive shortly.

THE POSITION OF SUNAK, SCHOLZ AND MACRON

For his part, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the decision to provide training to Ukrainian fighter jet pilots. The decision was made known after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's speech to the British parliament yesterday. Sunak said: “The training will ensure that pilots are capable of flying sophisticated NATO standard fighters in the future. As part of this long-term capability investment, the UK will work with Ukraine and international allies to coordinate collective support to meet Ukraine's defensive needs.

But he didn't say anything else about whether or not to send British fighters. As well as French President Macron. The French leader has promised that Ukraine will be able to count on his support, with France "determined to help Ukraine win and restore its legitimate rights". Chancellor Scholz added: "The position is unchanged: Russia must not win this war."

While Macron has previously signaled a willingness to supply fighter jets, Scholz has not.

UK DEFENSE IS CONSIDERING WHICH FIGHTERS IT COULD POTENTIALLY PROVIDE

Meanwhile, Downing Street said UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was investigating what aircraft could potentially be offered, but stressed it was "a long-term solution" and pilot training could take years. The RAF has a limited number of aircraft it could theoretically supply to Ukraine, including around 20 older Typhoon jets.

“However, there is a danger that Britain is writing checks it will struggle to cash. The RAF is already facing a backlog in training their fast jet pilots, even the maintenance and upkeep of older aircraft is more difficult. Even the prime minister has admitted that if Britain supplies fast jets, it will be in the long term, not in the foreseeable future,” comments the BBC .

UKRAINE HAS ALREADY DEMANDED F-16s

“A wise choice that the Ukrainians have already made would be to equip themselves with F-16s. It is the most widespread fighter in the world, there are 20 air forces equipped with it, two of which could be ready to sell their aircraft because they are two countries that did not hesitate for a moment to declare their support for Kiev: we are talking about Poland and Holland . Among other things, Holland is decommissioning them as it will replace the F-16 with the F-35”, underlines General Tricarico.

“The best choice can only be that of the F-16. They are multi-purpose aircraft, they can perform any type of air defense mission: from the most obvious to deep penetration where needed. They are aircraft that have about 1000 km of range. We know that no one wants to bomb Russia in depth but if the need arises, they can do that too. They can carry any type of armament, with large quantities of weapons”, adds the former Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force.

But “neither France, Germany nor the UK actually have F-16s. So the Air Force said it wanted the F-16s but they are targeting countries that have never had them,” Gaiani points out.

WHICH JETS COULD DELIVER UK, FRANCE AND GERMANY TO ZELENSKY?

“The UK has the Typhoons, they are not old aircraft in fact they are very up to date. The English ones have the swing role, in the sense that they can do both air defense and ground attack (bombardment). I don't know if the British premier means those aircraft”, remarks General Tricarico. “In any case, it takes a week at the most to train a driver to drive one of those or similar cars. 3 or 4 flights are enough. Naturally, to use the system, it takes a little longer, less than a month. The problem that could become significant concerns the maintenance of the aircraft: here times would dilate”, adds Tricarico.

“Like the UK, France doesn't have F-16s either,” recalls the director of Defense Analysis . “They said very useful fighters, very performing, therefore useful for Zelensky's needs. France could send Mirage 2000 which it is replacing with Rafales. Britain could supply early series Eurofighter Typhoons (those manufactured in the early 2000s) or it could supply older Tornadoes. The same thing could be done by Germany which has Typhoon from the first series. However, in reality, it would mean supplying Ukraine with three different aircraft models. It would become very difficult to fit into an air force three models of aircraft, all different and old, though still operational, and train the Ukrainian force to be employed. These aircraft could be joined by the F-16 perhaps sent from Holland or Denmark” underlines Gaiani.

A QUESTION OF TRAINING AND TIMELINES

Therefore, according to Gaiani, in case of effective sending of Western fighters to Kiev there are some aspects to consider.

“The first: putting fighter planes into an air force is a job that takes a few years (from pilot training to preparing air bases for fighter plane logistics) in an air force that operates under peaceful conditions. In a condition such as that of the Ukrainian air force which has its bases constantly under fire from Ukrainian missiles, which has logistical difficulties, it becomes even more complex and with too long timing to affect the ongoing war yesterday", notes the director of Defense Analysis .

Furthermore, there is also another aspect to take into account: “the Ukrainian Air Force has always employed Soviet-type aircraft (Sukhoi, Mig), not Western ones. Making a conversion from that type of aircraft to western ones is a very relevant leap also for the different equipment. An operation that takes years in peacetime to have full combat capability. Not just to have a pilot who knows how to take off with an airplane” underlines Gaiani.

A LOGISTICS NIGHTMARE

So the same pattern already seen with tanks is taking shape, according to the Director of Defense Analysis . “Ukraine has four types of tanks in service, of Russian-Soviet models, which should be joined by four types of Western tanks: Leopard 1, Leopard 2, Challenger and Abrams. It's a logistical nightmare. No armed force or army can think of putting so many aircraft and tanks of different types into service, moreover while it is at war. Training of personnel, technicians and logistics become impossible to manage. Unless these planes, like the tanks, are used by contractors, Western personnel, who go to fight with the Ukrainians”, notes Gaiani.

DIRECT INVOLVEMENT OF PILOTS FROM NATO COUNTRIES IN THE CONFLICT?

“We know that there are thousands of volunteers from NATO countries fighting with the Ukrainians on the battlefield. If we plan to insert armaments of this type, so different and all Western, we will have to send Western personnel, fighters and military logistics technicians or contractors to train the Ukrainians also in operational tasks. And it would be another film compared to what has been seen so far, with the direct involvement of pilots from NATO countries in the conflict” remarked the director of Defense Analysis.

FOR TCHARICO HUNTING SUPPLY MAY TIPS THE BALANCE OF THE WAR IN KIEV'S FAVOR

Finally, according to General Tricarico “it is a matter of seeing if they finally intend to give this type of contribution to Ukraine. [The hunting supply] has been talked about since the early days, and they had better prepare themselves. Now time may or may not be short, this Russian push remains to be seen whether it will take place or not”.

That's why according to Tricarico "It is appropriate that we focus on this solution and also focus the attention of countries like ours that want to help Ukraine to drive the Russians out of their territory".

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/quali-jet-zelensky-attende-da-regno-unito-e-francia/ on Thu, 09 Feb 2023 15:28:50 +0000.