“The minister noted that the Russian army uses 300 planes and up to 300 helicopters in the war against Ukraine”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“This is a very good list of platforms… Soon we will have the results that we will announce,” the minister said.
Umerov noted that the Russian army is using 300 planes and up to 300 helicopters in the war against Ukraine.
“That’s why we explain to our partners how many brigades or wings we need. We also explain to them in a reasonable manner what platforms we need and what weapons they should have. And in this regard, we worked last year to focus on pilot training, on getting platforms (F-16 fighters – ed.), build all the necessary infrastructure, and this year we will focus on how to increase it enough to have an advantage over the enemy in the air,” said the minister.
In June, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the start of training pilots and mechanics to use Mirage 2000 aircraft, which Paris promises to provide to Kyiv. At the time, Macron refused to name the exact number of planes.
Also, the President’s Office reported that a unique part of the security agreement with Sweden is the provision of specialized ASC 890 aircraft, as well as the prospect of transferring JAS 39 Gripen aircraft to Ukraine, including relevant training.
In August, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, announced that Ukrainian pilots had begun testing Swedish Gripen fighter jets.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, the Ukrainian authorities have asked the West to provide modern F-16 fighter jets. In 2023, several countries, with the consent of the United States, decided to transfer such planes to Kyiv.
The first F-16 fighters that arrived in Ukraine were shown during the Air Force Day celebrations on August 4 this year.