The Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that they are negotiating for the Swedish Saab Jas-39 Gripen and German-British Eurofighter Typhoons.
Ukraine is expecting their partner countries which includes the US made F-16 multi-role fighter jets.
Umerov said they are discussing when the negotiations for the Western made fighter jets will start and he hope they will start “soon.”
He said, “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.
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“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 that Ukraine is now focusing on achieving the advantage in skies to combat the Russian forces.
Umerov added, “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.”
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.”
In June the French President Emmanuel Macron announced France will provide Ukraine with Mirage 2000 fighter jets and train their pilots.
