Britain has led the way... but we could still do so much more to help Ukraine trends now

Britain has led the way... but we could still do so much more to help Ukraine trends now
Britain has led the way... but we could still do so much more to help Ukraine trends now

Britain has led the way... but we could still do so much more to help Ukraine trends now

Britain has been at the forefront in providing military aid to Ukraine, coming second only to the US in the total support it has given.

But in some areas, Germany is supplying more military hardware than Britain, even though it has been accused of reluctance in supporting Ukraine.

Britain is Europe’s biggest military donor to Kyiv, with £2.3billion spent in 2022, and as much again to come in 2023.

The Berlin government says it has so far issued licences for the export of military goods to Ukraine worth a total of nearly £2.1billion.

President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Britain yesterday with a shopping list and appealed for more assistance for his troops.

President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Britain yesterday with a shopping list and appealed to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for more assistance for his troops

President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Britain yesterday with a shopping list and appealed to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for more assistance for his troops

Fighter jets were at the top of his list – and he made a pointed rebuttal to Rishi Sunak’s suggestion that it would take Ukrainian pilots three years to learn to fly the RAF’s Typhoons, saying he would send air crew who have ‘already trained for two and a half years’.

Here, the Daily Mail assesses what Britain could do to enhance its military support for Ukraine:

Typhoon Fighters 

The UK has 137 Typhoons, of which around 100 are ‘on the flight line’, in other words operational. These are based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland and RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. Only a week ago No 10 shot down Boris Johnson’s demands for the UK to provide fighter jets, insisting it ‘was not practical’ – in part due to the training requirements for Typhoons and the F-35 and complications involving their integration with other aircraft and technological systems in the war zone.

But within hours of Mr Zelensky’s plea for British planes to protect Ukraine, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said yesterday the UK was ‘actively looking at’ just that.

Mr Sunak’s change of stance also followed Mr Johnson reiterating there was ‘no conceivable reason’ why the UK should not send jets.

But, frustratingly for Ukraine, the Prime Minister stopped short of an unequivocal commitment.

Mr Sunak described yesterday’s announcement that the RAF would train Ukrainian fighter pilots as a ‘first step’ towards sending jets. He also insisted it takes three years to train a Typhoon pilot – hence why the UK is not sending any combat aircraft yet.

The UK has 137 Typhoons, of which around 100 are ‘on the flight line’, in other words operational

The UK has 137 Typhoons, of which around 100 are ‘on the flight line’, in other words operational

But the Ukrainian president dismissed Mr Sunak’s excuse for inaction, insisting Ukraine would be sending pilots to the UK with two and a half years' experience.

Many UK defence commentators claim the UK’s fast-jet fleet is not suited to the conflict, and Ukraine would gain more from the F-16s operated by Nato partners such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Poland. These are simpler to use than the UK’s jets.

The US would need to sign off any transfer to Ukraine, as it controls the export licences.

Recent indications from the White House suggest this would not be problematic – although President Biden does not want to send the US’s own F-16s into aerial battle against Russia.

F-16 donations could happen within weeks, and president Zelensky’s visits to Paris and Brussels today will provide added impetus.

The Netherlands has 40 F-16s and is transitioning to the more advanced F-35, made by the same manufacturer, Lockheed Martin. So it has jets to spare that are easier to operate than UK aircraft.

That so many Nato allies operate F-16s also gives advantages for training and supply chains.

Even relatively primitive fighter jets are unlikely to be available in the short term, so will not play any part in the anticipated spring offensive being planned in Kyiv.

Last week, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat admitted that while it would take its pilots ‘a couple of weeks’ to learn to fly an F-16, mastering how to ‘fight’ a Russian fighter jet would take ‘about six months’. France also hasn’t ruled

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