The United States, Australia and Ukraine are discussing sending 41 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18 Hornet fighters to Kiev in response to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for Western fighters.
According to The Australian Financial Review (AFR), confidential sources revealed that the U.S. welcomes the idea of ceding the ex-RAAF F/A-18s to Ukraine.
The retired F/A-18s, which are being replaced by Lockheed Martin F-35As, are in a hangar at Williamtown RAAF base outside Newcastle and, unless sent to Ukraine, will be scrapped or sold to a private sector aviation company for use as «aggressors» for training military pilots in the US.
Robert Potter, an Australian security expert advising the Ukrainian government, confirmed to AFR that negotiations were underway, but that a concrete deal has not yet been finalized.
«The U.S. and Ukraine have an active and specific interest in the procurement of fourth-generation fighters for the Ukrainian Air Force,» Potter said. «There are multiple formal approvals needed to conclude an acquisition of these aircraft, but it is likely to be an idea whose time has come,» he added.
Another source close to the talks agreed that there was no point in destroying perfectly good aircraft that he said could be operational in four months and used to help repel the Russian invasion.
Western fighters for Ukraine to become a reality
Although Kiev has been asking for Western fighters for some time, the truth is that until very recently, its NATO allies have been reluctant to commit military capabilities that could lead to an escalation of hostilities with Russia, which is difficult to quantify.
But in recent months, this «taboo» has been breaking down, and a coalition of European member countries has been able to persuade Washington to authorize the training of Ukrainian Air Force pilots on Western fourth-generation fighters. The main candidate to be sent to Kiev is the F-16, of which there are large stocks of modernized units in good condition. Also Sweden agreed to start training Ukrainian airmen on the JAS-39 Gripen. And now it seems that also Australian F/A-18s entered the list of possible Western fighters to re-equip the Ukrainian Air Force, but with NATO hardware and under NATO doctrines.
Australian F/A-18 Hornet
According to experts consulted by the Australian media, a handful of aircraft would only serve to cannibalize them for spare parts, but the vast majority would need little work to become airworthy and would still have a couple of years of life left in their cells.
During their career, the Australian Hornets have been well maintained and, being aircraft designed to be deployed from an aircraft carrier, but having always operated from land bases, have a significantly lower level of fatigue than their naval brethren.
A very remarkable aspect of the Australian F/A-18 Hornet is that they were modernized to A++ level, which allows them to make use of an impressive range of armament, such as AIM-120 AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missiles, AIM-132 ASRAAM short-range missiles, Paveway II and JDAM-ER guided bombs, as well as Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
