Flight International - 04

Ukraine Fighters
Crown Copyright
“Things that we would have expected to see
happen with those types of high-end platforms have
not necessarily panned out that way.”
Looking beyond the conflict, he asks: “What does
this look like after the shooting stops? Ukraine might
not be configured to police its own skies.” He draws a
potential comparison with the Dayton Accords, which
led to NATO performing air policing duties over the
Balkans after the war in Kosovo ended in 1999.
Should momentum continue towards equipping
Kyiv with advanced combat aircraft, analysis of the
current 30 NATO nations exposes the significant
challenge facing any would-be equipment donors.
Twenty alliance members have fighters in current
use, while another nine – Albania, Estonia, Iceland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North
Macedonia and Slovenia – lack such a capability.
Slovakia’s government last year halted the use
of its 10 remaining MiG-29s – and indicated a
willingness to transfer them to Ukraine – but has 14
new F-16s on order.
Second-hand jets
NATO’s eastern European members are rapidly
phasing out their remaining Soviet-era combat aircraft.
In addition to Poland’s soon-to-depart MiG-29s
and Su-22s, Romania plans to retire the last of its
MiG-21s by mid-May. MiG-29 and Su-25 user Bulgaria
is acquiring F-16s, and Croatia’s MiG-21s will be
replaced by ex-French air force Dassault Rafales.
The most popular suggested way to strengthen
the Ukrainian air force would be for the service to
receive used F-16s, but apart from the USA it is difficult
to see where these could come from. Norway,
for example, last year retired its fleet of A/B-model
examples, but has sold 32 to Romania and another 12
to adversary training company Draken International.
Other surplus F-16s freed up as several European
nations transitioned to operating the Lockheed F-35
have been the subject of previous similar sales. The
Netherlands is continuing its move towards being
an all-F-35 force, while F-16 operators Belgium and
Denmark will do the same in the coming years.
And any nation considering donating part of its
critical fighter inventory should bear in mind that
acquiring replacement new-build jets will typically
incur a waiting time of at least three years.
Poland previously proposed transferring
its MiG-29s – a type Ukraine already flies
Peter Foster/Shutterstock
NATO fighter aircraft fleets
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Italy
The Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Spain
Turkey
UK
USA
Total
Aircraft type(s)**
F-16
F-35A
F-16
MiG-29
Su-25
F/A-18
F-35A
MiG-21
Rafale
Gripen
F-35A
L-159
F-16
F-35A
Mirage 2000D
Mirage 2000-5
Rafale
Eurofighter
F-35A
Tornado
F-4
F-16
Mirage 2000
Mirage 2000-5
Rafale
Gripen
L-39NG
AMX
AV-8B
Eurofighter
F-35A/B
Tornado
F-16
F-35A
F-35A
F-16
F-35A
FA-50
MiG-29
Su-22
F-16
F-16
MiG-21
F-16
AV-8B
Eurofighter
F/A-18
F-4
F-16
F-35B
Eurofighter Typhoon
A-10
AV-8B
F-15/EX
F-16
F-22
F-35
F/A-18
Active
52
13
7
87
88
11
Source: Cirium fleets data (as of 20 February 2023)
Notes: Albania, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North
Macedonia and Slovenia have no fighter aircraft
*Pending contract confirmation **Including dedicated trainers
14
24
43
6
72
26
135
133
112
32
154
18
24
10
14
25
15
91
22
47
26
33
37
48
29
32
25
17
16
13
70
84
48
243
29
124
288
99
420
957
184
576
979
5,652
Ordered*
34*
8+8*
12
24*
6+15*
39+94*
38
35*
14
12
5+62*
18*
2+12*
32*
48
14
20
5+103*
6+136*
42+1,828*
76
347+2,383*
April 2023 Flight International 75