The Spanish media “El Pais” wrote that Ukraine expects 24 fighter jets from its allies. The Ukrainian Air Force denied this

The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced its expectations regarding the delivery of modern Western-made fighters, writes the Spanish publication El Pais with reference to spokesman Yuriy Ignat.

The publication writes that Ukraine wants to receive 24 planes — that is two fighter squadrons, 12 planes each. The priority is American F-16 fighters. French Rafale and Swedish Gripen aircraft are also being considered as an option.

In a comment to Babel, Yuriy Ignat stated that the Spanish journalist Christian Segur, the author of the material about 24 F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine, misinterpreted his words, given at the briefing in the Ukrinform media center.

Ukraine is only at the stage of negotiations regarding aircraft. Aircraft models and their number are currently being determined. 24 planes, according to Ignat, are the calculations of the journalist himself — he made an assumption from the words about the squadron (there are 12 planes in the squadron) when he asked the spokesperson a question.

• The F-16 is an American multipurpose light fighter that the United States manufactures for export. Almost since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has been asking the US to hand over the F-16, but to no avail. Ukrainian pilots will need about half a year to master these fighters.
• In January of this year, the American company Lockheed Martin announced that it is ready to supply its F-16s to third countries for re-export to Ukraine.