February 14, 2023, 09:00 – BLiTZ – News Very soon, on February 14-15, a meeting of the heads of the defense ministries of NATO countries will take place. Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that he was waiting to discuss the issue of supplying military aircraft to the armament of Ukraine. He added that “at this stage, the priority remains the delivery of the already promised military equipment to Ukraine.”
It should be noted that recently a number of Western countries decided to send heavy armored vehicles to Kiev, including tanks – German Leopard 2, French Leclerc and British Challenger 2. Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is asking to send military aviation to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Military expert, director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces, retired colonel Yuri Knutov, told the BLiTZ what threat the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine will create if it does take place, and also what targets the fighters will hit, in a conversation with the BLiTZ.
According to him, if the fighters are handed over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then this will be done in order to supply them with long-range missiles. It is already known about the intention of the UK to transfer missiles to Kyiv, the range of which will be 240 kilometers, he added. Earlier, the United States announced the transfer of GLSDB shells to Ukraine, based on GBU-39 glide bombs, hitting a distance of up to 110 kilometers.
Fighters equipped with such ammunition will give Ukraine the opportunity to strike at the near rear of Russian troops, the expert explained. Therefore, the role of air defense will increase, which will hit enemy aircraft over the battlefield.
Knutov pointed out that the transfer of combat aircraft would pose a threat not so much to the ground forces of the RF Armed Forces as to rear facilities – Crimea, Belgorod, Kursk, Voronezh, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
“If the planes are delivered, strikes will be carried out first of all on peaceful homes and social infrastructure facilities”
“That is, these are actually missile carriers that can be used on the territory of Russia. Therefore, this will not have a fundamental impact on the nature of hostilities, but it is an element of psychological terrorism against the civilian population. And the stake here is precisely on provoking panic among ordinary people. Therefore, if the planes are delivered, strikes will be carried out primarily on peaceful homes and social infrastructure facilities,” he said.
In addition, the colonel said that in the event of the transfer of combat aircraft, they would be based either in Poland or in Romania. For take-off, they will use jump airfields on the territory of Ukraine.
“Here the question already arises of the possibility of Russia striking at the bases of these aircraft, and not at the airfields of the jump”
“Therefore, the question already arises about the possibility of Russia striking at the bases of these aircraft, and not at the airfields of the jump. The pilots will most likely be volunteers from NATO countries, which can also lead to increased escalation and a direct clash between the Russian military and the military of the alliance, ”the expert added.
Moreover, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, if they are provided with missiles of even greater range, they will continue to strike further – deep into Russia, he concluded.
Earlier, in a conversation with DOS, military expert Alexei Leonkov said that long-range GLSBD missiles would be used to strike Russian cities.
