news unrolled

Post: “This will change everything.” NATO considers another step to escalate tensions

Categories

MOSCOW, February 12 – RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. In London, plans were announced for further assistance to Kiev. The UK is already teaching Ukrainian pilots to fly Western warplanes. But the allies are still discussing the procurement of the equipment. About the problems they face – in the material of RIA Novosti.

Pilot training

Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to London was followed with interest by the world media. After a trip to Washington in December, NATO announced that it had supplied an unprecedented supply of armored vehicles, including heavy ones. Experts predict that the Ukrainian leader will acquire weapons that can hit targets deep in Russia – operational-tactical missiles and manned warplanes.

However, results so far have been mixed. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was evasive when asked about planes. On the other hand, the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal claims that the head of the British military department was instructed to find out whether to give fighters.

Authorities have not officially confirmed this information. But from the spring they reported on the training of Ukrainian pilots. Without specifying which machines.

lack of technology

After Zelensky’s departure, they said in London that Kiev will not be buying planes in the near future. You can understand the British – the loss of NATO armored vehicles and aircraft from the fire of the Russian army will not be the best advertisement for Western weapons on the world market.

A pair of Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the Royal Air Force of Great Britain - RIA Novosti, 1920, 10.02.2023
A pair of Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons

And there aren’t many warplanes in the UK. For example, the fourth generation F-16 warplanes that Ukraine has long requested from the North Atlantic Alliance are not in the Royal Air Force. There are about 30 F-35Bs and about 100 Eurofighter Typhoons from tactical aviation. This is clearly not enough. And the F-35 is too complex and technologically advanced to be trusted by outsiders.

“If British fighters are sent to Kiev, then there will be no new generation,” British analyst Deborah Haynes said in an interview with Sky News. It turns any talk that London will supply Kiev with powerful warplanes into an empty promise and gives rise to false hopes for Zelensky.”

polling to NATO

In January, NATO played a soap opera with the supply of tanks, in February – aircraft.

After Zelensky’s visit to London, regular roll call immediately began in the West. The Netherlands has expressed readiness to issue some of the newest F-16AMs – only if Brussels approves. Estonian Prime Minister Kaia Kallas assured him that if he had the planes, he would certainly share it.

The closest ally of Kiev, the people of Warsaw were completely surprised: do not rush, there they warned. Poland also does not have extra aircraft – the Americans never brought the promised F-35s.

American fighter aircraft F-16 Fighting Falcon - RIA Novosti, 1920, 10.02.2023
American fighter aircraft F-16 Fighting Falcon

And Joe Biden has made it clear that Ukraine will not buy the F-16. But a year ago he spoke exactly the same about Abrams and long-range missiles.

no permission

France is trying to answer three questions. First, will it help the APU? Second, will the conflict escalate? And finally, wouldn’t that weaken your own army?

“Sending planes to Ukraine is not the same as a howitzer. First of all, it’s not a defense, it’s an offensive tool. Pilots will need to be trained. When defensive weapons are needed, because we see Russian troops advancing,” said government spokesman Olivier Veran.

They are also cautious in Germany. Scholz has repeatedly denied such a scenario, but at home he is under pressure from all sides. For example, Christoph Heusgen, head of the Munich Security Conference, wants East German MiG-29 fighter jets left in Germany from the Cold War to be donated to Kiev. It is not known how many of these machines the Bundeswehr owns. In the 2000s, Berlin ceded most of it to Poland.

There is no general consensus. And this worries the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to high-ranking Air Force officer Yuri Ignat, the army needs at least five aviation brigades, consisting of three squadrons each with about 180 F-16s. He believes this will “turn the tide.”

But, of course, such things are not done quickly. And purely physically, so many pilots cannot be trained in the near future.

Source: Ria

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *