ALERT – Forward-leaning NATO member Poland has just become the first country to begin sending jet fighter aircraft to its besieged eastern neighbor, Ukraine.
Thursday Warsaw pledged it would quickly begin sending up to twelve Russian-built MiG-29s to fight Vladimir Putin's invading forces.
Poland inherited from the former communist German Democratic Republic (GDR). Polish officials said the first of four fighters would be fully serviced and then handed over to Ukraine in the coming days.
Poland is replacing its inventory of Soviet-era jets with U.S.-made F-35 stealth joint strike fighters and South Korean FA-50s.
Warsaw sees the defense of Ukraine as integral to its own defense against an expansionist Russia.
While Ukraine is pleading for U.S.-made fourth-generation F-16 jets, its own Air Force consists of Russian-made aircraft. Since the early months of the war.Ukraine has strongly lobbied for Western fighters as well as Soviet-era Mig-29s from NATO countries who still also fly them.
Open source sources show that about 18 Ukrainian MiGs have been visually confirmed destroyed so far, in addition to 39 other combat aircraft and helicopters.
The AP reported a Polish government spokesperson indicating that other countries operating similar MiGs had pledged to supply some jets to Ukraine but did not provide specifics.
As CNN reported:
Warsaw has taken a lead among NATO allies in supplying Kyiv with heavy weapons. The announcement that Poland will send the Soviet-designed planes marks a break from the alliance, and could put pressure on other member states to do the same. Other NATO nations have been reluctant to move far beyond a decision earlier this year to send tanks to Kyiv, and the US insisted Thursday that Poland's move would not force Washington's hand.
Speaking at a news conference in Warsaw with his new Czech counterpart Petr Pavel, the Polish president expressed the two countries' joint backing for Kyiv.
“The Czech Republic and Poland are countries that are in the absolute vanguard when it comes to supporting Ukraine, both at humanitarian and military levels,” President Duda said.
Poland had been one of the most vocal European nations against Russia – even before the invasion of Ukraine. Russia is still seen by many in Poland's political and diplomatic circles in a Cold War context. Putin has always been seen by Warsaw as untrustworthy and Russia expansion is something to be fought against at all costs. It is one of the few NATO countries that by law is required to meet its 2% of GDP defense spending commitment and is an active member of the European defense community.
As I have noted before, Joe Biden has stated the U.S. has no plans to send U.S. jet fighters to Ukraine, but he said the same thing about Abrams tanks, before backtracking.
Meanwhile, two Ukrainian Air Force pilots are completing an “assessment” program on F-16 simulators in Arizona.
Though Colin Kahl, the top Pentagon official for policy planning, has stated that, “since we haven't made the decision to provide F-16s and neither have our allies and partners, it doesn't make sense to start to train them on a system they may never get,” it is likely that this “assessment” could turn into “training” soon and expand in the future.
This would, of course, be followed by delivery of U.S. F-16s, likely from the current U.S. inventory.
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And the planes are only one year late, thanks to Biden’s and the German government’s fecklessness! I wonder if the Taiwanese will be able to hold off the PRC for a year while waiting for needed weapons from the Biden Administration?