Yuriy Ignat, the speaker of the command of the Air Force (AF) of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said this on the air of the national telethon on February 27, the video was published on YouTube TSN .
“We have the “youngest” aircraft today in the Air Force – this is the Su-27 of 1991 [выпуска], which is the same age as Ukrainian independence. I always tell foreign journalists this when they ask: “Why do you need an F-16 or some other aircraft?” I tell them: “Because our planes are twice as old as the pilots,” Ignat said. “We need wings for more than just attacking. Wings, aircraft are part of the air defense, which are capable of shooting down enemy cruise missiles that can protect the Ukrainian sky.”
Ukraine has been calling on its allies to provide it with Western-style combat aircraft since the start of a full-scale war, public discussions have intensified in recent months. On January 20, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the participants of the eighth Ramstein to give Ukraine F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles. On January 23, Kuleba said that the issue of transferring combat aircraft to Ukraine “moved off the ground.”
Speaking before the British Parliament on February 8, Zelensky expressed hope for a coalition that would provide combat aircraft to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asked Defense Minister Ben Wallace to find out which fighter jets the UK can transfer to Ukraine.
Sunak also announced plans to train Ukrainian pilots, which will eventually allow them to fly aircraft that meet NATO standards.
At a press conference in Brussels on February 9, Zelensky said that he “heard from the leaders of some states in Europe” about the readiness to provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons, “including aircraft.”
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said on February 14, following the results of the ninth Rammstein, that he had no announcements on the transfer of Western fighters to Ukraine, but Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov is sure that Ukraine “will definitely have modern aircraft.”
On February 22, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, admitted that the UK “may become the first country to unblock the supply of fighter jets to Ukraine.”
