In London, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak agreed with the Ukrainian president on a significant increase in military aid, including training for pilots and fighter jets.
During the visit to the UK, President Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles III, spoke at the House of Commons and visited Ukrainian troops already training in the country, including the future crews of the recently donated Challenger 2 heavy tanks.
The UK has already trained more than 10,000 Ukrainian fighters (men and women) in basic training, drone warfare, and now also as tank crews, all to NATO standards.
🇬🇧🇺🇦 Prime Minister @RishiSunak met with President @ZelenskyyUa today and announced that they have agreed to strengthen and expand the package of support to Ukraine.
🤝 'We will always be by your side, your staunch and unwavering friends.'#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/LN6VTSbczb
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) February 8, 2023
However, London and Kiev will further expand their military cooperation. Rishi Sunak commented: «And I am pleased that today we have agreed that we will expand our training programme – a programme that has trained 10,000 troops in the last six months alone – to your marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring the Armed Forces of Ukraine are able to defend their country for generations to come».
As part of his visit to London, Zelensky spoke to the House of Commons and called for Western fighters to be supplied to Ukraine. He also presented a Ukrainian pilot’s helmet on which was written «We have freedom, give us the wings to protect it.»
Lindsay Hoyle has been presented with the helmet of one of Ukraine's most successful pilots – the writing asks for modern fighter jets: “we have freedom, give us wings to protect it”. pic.twitter.com/qL1dE7Br2u
— Alan White (@aljwhite) February 8, 2023
To support a future Ukrainian counter-offensive, the UK will begin training Ukrainian pilots to bring its Air Force up to NATO-standard air combat capability, as well as long-range weapons.
See also: Netherlands to consider supplying F-16 fighters to Ukraine
What fighter jets can London offer?
The British Prime Minister has reportedly ordered his Defense Secretary, Ben Wallace, to evaluate what kind of fighter jets the United Kingdom could give to the Ukrainian Air Force. The only aircraft that London would have to give are the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 1, which are out of service waiting for a customer to be found or for a decision to be taken regarding their future.
But several questions arise about the feasibility of this potential donation.
For those on the give Ukraine Tranche 1 Typhoon train, since the question has been asked;
1) The RAF does not have 53 serviceable Tranche 1s to give. There are far fewer now (c20-25).
2) Those remaining have much more limited combat/weapons capabilities than Tranche 2/3 (1/6) pic.twitter.com/7ggGBFNRhp— Justin Bronk (@Justin_Br0nk) February 8, 2023
The number of Typhoon Tranche 1s that could be returned to «fit for active service» status could be between 20 and 25 units. Tranche 1s are first-generation Typhoons with limited air defense capabilities. They do not have integrated the MBDA Meteor long-range air-to-air missile, relying instead on the less capable North American AMRAAMs. They also are not really multirole fighters, and do not have integrated, for example, the Storm Shadow long-range air-to-ground missile, which would allow precision strikes deep in the Russian rear lines.
On the other hand, it would be quite complicated to adapt the Ukrainian air bases to receive these Western machines, which require for their operation totally new facilities and equipment, currently non-existent in the Ukrainian Air Force. And they would be even worse adapted to operate from the dispersed air bases, with short and hilly runways, from which Ukrainian fighter planes are deployed today, to avoid Russian missile attacks.
A politician cannot make this photo and not supply the planes to Ukraine later. Would that be a fair assumption that they’ve already decided? @ZelenskyyUa with 🇬🇧 PM @RishiSunak today in UK pic.twitter.com/QOycbkD1N6
— Andriy P. Zagorodnyuk (@Andriypzag) February 8, 2023
The donation of the Typhoon Tranche 1s could bring more headaches than solutions to Ukrainian defenders. But as in the case of the 14 Challenger 2s, whose donation brought closer the possibility of Ukraine receiving other modern Western tanks, such as Leopard 2s and Abrams, the British Typhoons could speed up the eventual arrival of the much requested NATO fighters.
