MiG-29

2022 - 3 - 8

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Wall Street Journal"

NATO's Polish MiG-29 Fiasco (The Wall Street Journal)

The White House divides the alliance and signals weakness to Putin by refusing to let Warsaw send fighter jets to Ukraine.

- Opinion: Iran’s Master Class in Evading Sanctions - Opinion: Injecting Some Insulin Reality - Opinion: Iran’s Master Class in Evading Sanctions - Opinion: Injecting Some Insulin Reality You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. On Tuesday Poland said it could transfer around two dozen MIG-29 jet fighters to a U.S. base in Germany, and then to Ukraine, whose pilots can fly the Soviet-era planes with minimal training.

Pentagon Opposes Sending MiG-29 Fighter Jets To Ukraine (Forbes)

The Pentagon came out against efforts to craft a deal to give Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine, casting the idea as a high-risk, low-reward proposition.

The United States weighed asking Poland—a former Soviet bloc country—to give its MiG-29s to Ukraine in exchange for U.S.-made F-16s, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that NATO members had the “green light” to give jets to Ukraine, but the plan has faced some logistical hurdles. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also encouraged the Biden Administration to find a way to transfer planes to Ukraine. Where will they land?” The idea could also clash with NATO’s aim to back the Ukrainian government without directly joining a war against Russia. Polish President Andrzej Duda said last week “we are not sending any jets to Ukraine because that would open a military interference in the Ukrainian conflict,” and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday didn’t offer to give its planes directly to Ukraine, instead effectively asking the United States to serve as an intermediary. Shortly after the war began, EU security chief Josep Borrell said that the bloc had crafted a deal for member states to provide Ukraine with used Soviet warplanes, but it quickly collapsed. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday warned of “a number of challenging practical questions, including how the planes would actually be transferred from Poland to Ukraine. … Are they going to fly? The Polish government said Tuesday it’s willing to transfer its more than two dozen MiG-29 fighter jets—a type that is also flown by Ukraine—to the U.S. at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where they would presumably be made available to the Ukrainian air force.

Why is Poland giving MiG-29 fighter jets to the US – and is it a risky move? (unknown)

Will decision to give jets to US for expected transfer to Ukrainian forces make a significant difference to war with Russia?

Western countries have been supplying increasingly sophisticated arms to Ukraine so it can fight off the Russian advance. Poland had been expecting the US to supply it with more advanced F-16s to fill the gap. Poland said on Tuesday evening that it was willing to hand over its fleet of 28 MiG 29s to the US – which was in turn expected to pass them on to the Ukrainian air force.

US rejects Poland’s offer to send MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine (unknown)

Pentagon says Polish proposal to transfer Soviet-era planes to Kyiv via US base in Germany is not tenable.

“I will continue to convey the very strong bipartisan view of this committee that these planes need to get to Ukraine,” she told the panel. “So I think that actually was a surprise move by the Poles,” she said. The United States has rejected Poland’s offer to send its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine via a US airbase in Germany, saying the proposal raised “serious concerns” for the entire NATO alliance.

Polish offer to donate MiG-29 jets to Ukraine took US officials by surprise (unknown)

An offer from Poland to donate MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine took US officials by surprise on Tuesday, raising fears the move could draw NATO allies into ...

To maintain the pretense that NATO and the EU are not direct participants in the Ukraine conflict, US and Polish officials have been considering a variety of options. But the handover of Poland's 28 Soviet-made MiG-29s would be unlikely to be a game-changer militarily. A senior US defence official has said Ukrainians are flying relatively few of their existing aircraft, for relatively little time, as it is. Poland publicly floated the plan to donate its MiGs the day before Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to depart for Warsaw for talks with Polish officials. White House officials were blindsided by the Polish announcement on the MiGs. The proposal did not come up during talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he was recently in Poland, according to a US official familiar with the talks. The proposed gift of more warplanes would be a morale booster for Ukrainians under pounding Russian assault for nearly two weeks.

US dismisses Polish plan to provide fighter jets to be sent to Ukraine (unknown)

Poles believed to have 28 Soviet-era fighters which they hope the US will replace with newer planes – but Pentagon says plan 'not tenable'

“Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities,” Rau said in a statement on his ministry’s website. Polish thinking is that when the planes are delivered to Ukrainian pilots, they will be taking off from an air base in Germany as US assets. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi voiced fears for nuclear safety and offered to travel to the site. Vice President Kamala Harris is due to hold talks with the Polish government in Warsaw on Thursday where she will attempt to repair some of the diplomatic damage.The US said on Tuesday that it was deploying two of its Patriot antimissile batteries to Poland to help protect Nato troops and territory. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, warned Russia that any attack on supply lines in Nato countries carrying arms and ammunition to Ukraine would be grounds for retaliation. Venezuela released at least two jailed US citizens on Tuesday, according to multiple sources, in an apparent goodwill gesture.

Ukraine: Poland to send MiG-29 fighter jets to US base (Irish Examiner)

Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly Soviet-era fighter jets. The Polish Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that Poland was ready to deliver the jets to ...

“Decisions on the supply of offensive weapons must be made unanimously at the level of the entire Nato. We cannot take any steps on our own, because we are not a party to this war,” he said. But militarily it is unlikely to be a game-changer because the number of aircraft is not that big and they are inferior to more sophisticated Russian aircraft and could be easy prey for the Russian air force. The Polish government also appealed to other owners of MiG-29 jets to follow suit.