Every day, it becomes more difficult for the pilots of Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to keep the Russians in the sky with outdated Soviet-made fighter jets like the MiG-29. Ukraine needs Western aircraft to fight and destroy the more powerful Russian Su-35 and Su-34.
Air Force pilot Major Vadym Voroshylov (call sign Karaya) and the head of the aviation department of the Air Force Command Volodymyr Lohachov, told The Telegraph that Ukraine is losing experienced pilots in combat who could master the F-16 fighter jets so necessary for the Ukrainian side.
Voroshylov spoke about the constant changes in tactics by the Russians. "They create traps. They lift one plane into the air, tricking the Ukrainian pilot into thinking there is only one plane. Then two or three more planes appear from two sides, which actually swarm around the Ukrainian plane," he noted.
Ukrainian MiG-29s can only "hold the battlefield", while the Russians, using modern Su-35 fighters and Su-34 bombers, are trying to achieve dominance in the sky.
With the F-16, as Voroshylov says, Ukrainian pilots will be able to fully control the sea and land, and most importantly, to effectively destroy the Su-35 and Su-34. The F-16 has modern radars and air-to-air missiles that can be launched at a target from a distance of 160 km. The MiG-29 needs to be 40 km away from the target to launch a missile, which exposes the aircraft to great danger. Russian Su-35 missiles are much more powerful than Soviet MiG-29 missiles. Voroshilov adds that sometimes the pilots donʼt even see that the Russians have launched missiles.
Ukraine previously appealed to its allies to receive American-made F-16s, of which more than 3 000 are in use in the world. However, the US President Joe Biden stated that he does not want to hand over F-16s to Ukraine yet. This prompted Volodymyr Zelensky to call on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to hand over RAF Typhoon fighter jets to Ukraine. In February, Sunak instructed the Ministry of Defense to investigate which British aircraft could be transferred to Ukraine, although he warned that pilot training could take three years.
Voroshylov and Lohachov do not agree with this. "It takes less than six months to study," noted Lohachov.
"While we wait, we will lose even more pilots. We had a list of the most experienced pilots who could be trained on the F-16, and unfortunately some of them have already died in combat," he added.
- So far, Ukraine receives MiG-29s from its allies, which are in service with the Ukrainian Air Force. They are transferred by Slovakia and Poland.
- Ukraine, on the other hand, is asking its allies for Western-made multifunctional fighters, such as the F-15, F-16 and F-18. So far, the partners have agreed only to train Ukrainian pilots, in particular , this was promised by Britain, Poland and three other countries, which are kept secret. Discussions about preparations for the transfer of Western aircraft are ongoing, in particular, Denmark is conducting negotiations with its allies. The USA and Germany currently do not have such plans.