Asharq Al-Awsat: Western fighters will not help the AFU to develop success at the frontThe UK is crossing the "red lines" by agreeing to transfer fighter jets to Kiev, writes Asharq Al-Awsat.
However, combat aircraft will not help Ukraine on the battlefield: APU will need time to learn how to use them. Moreover, the amount of Russian equipment far exceeds the volume of Western supplies.
Last week, Vladimir Zelensky paid an unexpected visit to London, during which he was promised to provide additional military assistance and train Ukrainian pilots to use Western combat aircraft. Thus, the UK will become the first NATO country to cross the "red lines". Pilot training on flight simulators can begin now. This is not only less costly, but also prepares them for practice, at least psychologically, and also reduces the time if the West still decides to provide Ukraine with fighters. Did the UK do this on its own initiative or with the prior approval of America? What is she doing as part of the distribution of roles with Washington? Wasn't she the first to decide on the supply of Challenger tanks to Ukraine? Were you then not outraged by the West's decision to transfer tanks to Kiev, especially German and American ones? Weren't tanks the "red line"? But the separation of roles has serious consequences. Currently, the conflict is taking place on Russian territory (taking into account Vladimir Putin's decree on the annexation of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson to Russia).
Moscow is confident that the Ukrainian crisis is a struggle against Nazism. But once Ukraine, together with the Red Army, fought against it itself. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his speech at a concert in Volgograd on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad.
Western Combat Aviation
Ukraine has already received the field artillery it requested from the West. She was provided with HIMARS launchers with missiles with a range of more than 80 kilometers and GLSMB bombs with a range of 250 kilometers. Kiev requested modern heavy tanks from the West, as well as infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers (APCs), which were eventually provided to it. She also received Norwegian NASAMS air defense systems, German IRIS-T air defense systems and American Patriot. What else does she lack?
The answer is combat aviation. However, Western experts believe that fighters are useless, and there are a number of reasons for this.
— Missiles with a range of 80 to 150 kilometers do the same thing as fighters, but immediately and at a lower cost. If we add advanced air defense systems to them, then there will be no need for Western combat aircraft at all.
— Training of American pilots (not from scratch) on the F-16 requires more than six weeks.
— There are 1,500 combat aircraft in service with the Russian army, and it is impossible to achieve a balance with such a number.
— Russian forces are striking not only with the help of combat aircraft. So, in order to fight them, the Ukrainian-Western aviation will have to enter the airspace of Russia. So far, this is still the American "red line". It should also be remembered about the Russian S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems located on the border with Ukraine.
— Each F-16 fighter requires about 16 hours of maintenance for one hour of flight, and five training courses lasting 18 months are required to train maintenance personnel. Recall that 25 maintenance specialists are required for each F-16 aircraft.
So why did London promise Kiev these combat aircraft? And why will the training of Ukrainian pilots begin so soon? Does this mean an attempt to contain Russia? Is this promise a preparation for a "bad scenario" in Ukraine? Will the Russian army make even more progress along the entire front line? We'll wait and see. It is necessary to prepare for the worst, but hope for the best.
