Monday, March 7, 2022

Logistic challenges abound for potential US-Poland-Ukraine fighter swap

".....there are very real logistics questions which would need to be addressed. First, it seems
likely Poland would want to strip classified modern equipment off the jets before handing them over, especially given the risk of the fighters being captured by Russia. How quickly that could be done — and how plausible it is that the planes would be able to operate with those capabilities stripped out — is unknown.

Then there is the question of transport. Direct flights from Bulgaria, Poland or Slovakia to Ukraine would be the easiest and fastest way, but come with a high risk of being shot by Russians, especially if they know such a deal is in the works. Transport by land would require disassembling aircraft and then re-assembling and performing flight checks after delivery to the destination, both time-consuming and risky. And any convoy of trucks carrying aircraft is a sitting duck for enemy aviation.

And who will operate them? Just how many Ukrainian fighter pilots are available at this point is unclear, let alone where they are located and how many of them are trained up on the MiG-29s." BreakingDefense

No comments:

Post a Comment