Ukraine expects Mirage fighters, negotiating Gripen and Eurofighter – Umerov
Ukraine expects from partner countries supplies of not only American-made F-16 fighters, but also French-made Mirage-2000, and is also negotiating Swedish Saab JAS-39 Gripen and German-British Eurofighter Typhoon, said Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
"Now we already have from our partners that they are giving a commitment [obligation to deliver] on F-16, they are giving a commitment on Mirages, commitments or consultations are underway on Gripen, consultations are underway on Eurofighters. That is, this is a very good list of platforms and we are discussing when they will start. Soon we will have results that we will announce. I hope we will announce it soon," Umerov said on the national telethon.
According to him, the department had previously focused on pilot training, fighter jet infrastructure, and operational platforms, and is now aiming to achieve an advantage in the air over the Russian Armed Forces.
"We worked last year to focus on pilot training, to obtain platforms, to build all the necessary infrastructure, and this year we will focus on how to increase this so that we have an advantage over the enemy in the air. These processes have already been established, but they require scaling, and we are currently working on this. And we already have solutions that we are already working on with our partners," the minister said.
Speaking about negotiations with foreign partners on the delivery of aircraft, Umerov said: "The enemy uses up to 300 aircraft, up to 300 helicopters, so we explain to our partners how many brigades or 'wings' we need. We also explain to them reasonably what platforms we need, what weapons they should have.