Ukrainian Military Plans to Buy American Fighters

Ukraine plans to purchase a squadron of American fighter planes. Serhiy Drozdov, the commander of Ukraine’s JAF air forces, reported this in an interview.

According to him, Ukraine is unlikely to create its own aircraft soon because the creation of a prototype takes at least 10 years and requires USD10 billion.

“We have, firstly, no appropriate scientific base, no production facilities, no experience. Ukraine can only produce military transport aircraft,” Drozdov said, adding that this is the reason why the Armed Forces plan to purchase aircraft abroad.

“We are talking about the purchase of aircraft abroad from partner countries. That is the only type of multi-role fighter, which would later replace all the types of Soviet-style combat aircraft: fighters, attack aircraft, bombers. Of course, the Air Forces would like to have the most modern equipment, such as the American F-35. Our pilots would dream of flying on such aircraft,” the commander said.

He noted that Ukraine would like to follow Poland’s path. The experience of this state would be the most acceptable for the Ukrainian military: to get a squadron of fighters and put it in the service of a tactical aviation brigade.

According to Drozdov, there should be no problems with re-training the flight crew, though there are nuances with the technical base, repairs, and airfield technical support. He added that nowadays, the military defends Ukraine’s air borders on aircraft produced from 1968 to 1991. The Soviet aircraft remount and modernisation can be carried out forever, but they will not be able to perform their tasks in 10 years.

Bohdan Marusyak