Poland wants to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine within the next four to six weeks. But until then there are still a few hurdles to be overcome.
The most important things at a glance
Andrei Duda had a clear message for Ukraine: “We are ready to deliver these planes and I am sure that Ukraine would be ready to use them immediately,” the Polish president told US news channel CNN. The country’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, was even more specific last Tuesday: In the next four to six weeks, it would be possible for Poland to hand over Soviet-designed jets to Ukraine.
Ukraine had long wanted the West to supply fighter jets, well before Germany’s recent pledge for tanks. But what exactly can Ukraine expect now – and what can the jets do? An overview of the most important questions and answers:
How many fighter jets does Poland want to deliver?
Specifically, the deliveries are MiG fighter jets developed in the Soviet Union. Poland has around 30 such aircraft. The Polish government has not yet announced exactly how many of the machines Poland could deliver. The head of the Polish Presidential Office, Pawel Szrot, only said last Thursday that 14 units would definitely not be delivered. This figure corresponds to that of the Leopard tanks previously supplied by Poland.
In principle, the Polish demand is not new: Shortly after the start of the Russian invasion last year, the government in Warsaw had signaled its willingness to hand over aircraft. “Immediately and free of charge” they are willing to hand over all MiG jets to the USA so that the Americans can transfer the planes from the Ramstein military base to Ukraine. In return, Poland wants to buy used US jets with comparable capabilities. However, the United States rejected the proposal.
Which other states could join Poland?
Looking at the weapons arsenals of the NATO countries, two countries could deliver more MiG jets: Slovakia and Bulgaria. While the Slovak Army is said to have 11 jets, Bulgaria has 14 of the jets at its disposal.
Slovakia’s Defense Minister Yaroslav Nad announced in February that his country could deliver 10 of the 11 jets to Ukraine. However, following a vote of no confidence last December, the current Slovakian government is only in office on an acting basis. It is still unclear whether such a delivery by an interim government is even covered by the constitution. Nad nonetheless pushed last week for his government to make a decision now.
On the other hand, there was a refusal from Bulgaria: At the moment, there are not even enough jets to protect their own airspace, a spokesman for President Kiril Petkov told the “Politico” news portal.
What is the difficulty of such a delivery?
First of all, there is a problem with the delivery itself. Should Western pilots penetrate Ukrainian airspace with the jets, Russia could see this as NATO’s direct entry into the Ukraine war. This is probably one of the reasons why the US government rejected Poland’s first proposal last year.
Another possibility would be that Ukrainian pilots receive the jets in the NATO countries, put their own badges on them there and then fly them to their home country themselves. But that would also be risky from a NATO perspective. “That would mean making your territory available to a conflicting party,” military expert Carlo Masala from the Bundeswehr University in Munich told Deutsche Welle. The most likely is therefore a covert delivery, in which it is not apparent how the planes got into the country in the first place.
