Russian Air Force General Fedorov told how fighters from Slovakia will help Ukraine
Slovakia declares its readiness to transfer MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. The country's air Force has a small fleet of such aircraft, but is ready to sacrifice them as part of assistance to Kiev. "Newspaper.Ru" figured out - what is the value of Slovak fighters for the AFU and whether delivery is possible in principle.
Instead of the division of Slovakia's only S-300PMU anti-aircraft missile system transferred to Ukraine in April this year, Bratislava requested the Patriot air defense system from the United States. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at the time that this complex would be transferred to Slovakia temporarily, without specifying, however, the timing of the return. Now Bratislava has agreed to transfer the MiG-29AS fighters in service with the country's Air Force to Kiev, but also with certain conditions.
One of them is that in the case of such a delivery, the Czech Republic should promise to protect the airspace of Slovakia with its JAS-39C Gripen fighters.
Also, F-16C fighters of the Polish Air Force should be involved in covering the Slovak sky. There is no talk of transferring combat aircraft of neighboring countries to Bratislava, only their temporary basing on Slovak territory is possible.
"Having said goodbye to its MiG-29AS, Slovakia will not lose anything special - there are only 9 fighters, 2 more combat training. At the same time, only half can be considered really combat-ready. 70% of the budget of the country's Air Force is spent on their maintenance. These fighters can be called Soviet-Russian - in 2004, Bratislava signed a contract with RSC MiG for their modernization. Now the Russian company, of course, does not serve Slovak fighters. At the same time, we are most likely talking about the transfer of not all fighters to Ukraine, but only part of them. And, apparently, not the best part," he told the newspaper.En" Retired Air Force Major General Valery Fedorov.
"This is a very clever move by Bratislava. It will not just get rid of the exhausted fighters, and thereby additionally "push" its application for the purchase of 14 American F-16s. Consent for such a delivery has already been received. But the timing is questionable. After Bratislava loses the MiG-29, it will begin to "persuade" Washington to accelerate the delivery of the F-16. Exactly according to the same scheme, according to which the Slovaks received the Patriot air defense system instead of the S-300PMU. This is a perfect opportunity to speed up the process. Poland has similar plans, which is waiting for fifth-generation F-35 fighters from the United States," Shurygin is sure.
It will not be possible to deliver planes by air - the sky over Ukraine, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, is largely controlled by Russian aviation, but theoretically fighters from Slovakia can get to Ukraine by land transport.
The Slovak-Ukrainian border with a length of 97 km is equipped with two automobile and two railway crossing points. A similar route from Slovakia and back, judging by Slovak media reports, has already been worked out for the supply of weapons to Ukraine. In particular, four Mi-17 and one Mi-2 helicopters were transferred in this way. The same corridor is used to deliver various ammunition to Ukraine.
The MiG-29 planes will be transported in disassembled form, and then assembled at Ukrainian military air enterprises that have not yet been hit by Russian missiles.
"It is quite possible to assemble disassembled aircraft, not even at an aircraft factory. In each aviation regiment there is a thermal power plant - a technical and operational part that conducts scheduled routine maintenance and repair work. Engineers and technicians of this service are able to independently disassemble the aircraft for preventive purposes, and then assemble it. This requires proper labeling and technical documentation, the main thing is that the machine is not in a damaged form. It will be difficult to assemble a large number of units on the technical base of the aviation regiment, there is no appropriate equipment, but Ukrainian mechanics can cope with three or five fighters. Moreover, they have experience working with the MiG-29," he told the newspaper.Ru" military expert, reserve Colonel Vladimir Talanov.
At the same time, retired Air Force Major General Valery Fedorov believes that Slovak fighters "will not make the weather in the skies of Ukraine."
"If such deliveries take place, there will be a supply of spare parts and assemblies. These planes will be used as a spare set for those fighters that the APU already has. This will be the supply of spare parts instead of fighters," the general believes.
Victor Sokirko
