The Polish government has announced that it is ready to give its entire fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29s to the US. The fighters, numbering 29, are to be flown to a US airbase in Germany, where they will presumably  be shipped to Ukraine.

Calls for Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania to give their Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine have been increasing. As UAWire previously reported, during a video call with members of the US Congress on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his country’s acute need for weapons of all kinds, including aircraft.

“If you can’t do that [institute a no-fly zone], at least get me planes”, Zelensky is reported to have said.

The Polish government has reportedly urged Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania to follow suit.

An unknown number of Ukrainian aircraft were destroyed on the ground during the initial strikes of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

At least five MiG-29s were destroyed during a single strike on an airfield outside Ivano-Frankivsk.

Despite the Russian military’s efforts to eliminate Ukraine’s Air Force during the early hours of the invasion, air superiority has not been established, and Ukrainian jets and drones are still active over the country’s airspace, which has proven to be one of the key factors in Russia’s inability to execute a rapid invasion.

As the Ukrainian Air Force does not currently operate US-built aircraft, like the General Dynamics F-16 that is often exported to US allies, Ukrainian pilots would not be able to undergo the requisite training in US-built jets.

Transferring NATO’s current stock of MiG-29s, which is believed to number around 70, would be the fastest and easiest solution that would fill Ukraine’s immediate and urgent need.

It is unclear whether Washington will supply Poland with F-16s to replace their donated MiGs.

  Ukraine, Poland

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