SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Ukraine given no whole aircraft from allies, only parts: Pentagon
Washington, April 20 (AFP) Apr 20, 2022
The US Defense Department on Wednesday retracted its claim Ukraine had been supplied with more aircraft, saying only parts had been delivered to enable Kyiv to put more jets into the fight against Russia.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby retracted his statement from Tuesday that Ukraine had received fighter jets from an unnamed ally, after weeks of speculation that a neighboring country might provide Russian-made MiG-29s to add to the Ukrainian air force's capabilities against the Russian invaders.

While fixed-wing aircraft have been offered by an unidentified country to bolster Kyiv's defenses, "they have not received whole aircraft from another nation," Kirby told reporters.

"I was mistaken. They have not received whole aircraft from another nation," Kirby said of his Tuesday claim.

"That said, Ukrainians have received through United States coordination and provision enough spare parts and additional equipment such that they have been able to put in operation more fixed-wing aircraft in their fleet than they had even two to three weeks ago," he said.

Separately, a senior US defense official said the parts supply has enabled Ukraine to add 20 previously inoperable jets to its active fighter fleet.

Since early in the war which began on February 24, Ukraine has asked for more aircraft, especially MiG fighters which its pilots are trained to operate.

Three NATO countries -- Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia -- have those jets in their fleets.

But the NATO alliance has been cautious, concerned it would be seen as taking a direct role in the fight against Moscow's forces and risking expanding the conflict beyond Ukraine's borders.

Meanwhile the senior defense official said 14 US howitzers that Washington said last week would be provided to Ukraine were now being delivered to the region, along with ammunition for them.

Around 50 Ukrainians are being trained outside of Ukraine to operate them, the official said.

"They will get trained on how to use the howitzers and then they'll be able to go back in to Ukraine and train their colleagues," the official said.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Russian space chief to meet NASA head for first time in eight years
BlackSky to supply satellite imagery and analytics for Latin American security operations
Cascade raises 59M to develop full stack satellite communications platform

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Palantir, the AI giant that preaches US dominance
China and US wrap first day of trade talks
'Food on table' outweighs health risks for Philippine e-waste dismantlers

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
North Korea warns US against pushing it to give up nukes
Iran vows stronger response if attacked again by US, Israel
Ukraine says Russian attacks targeted western city, home to airfield

24/7 News Coverage
BAE Systems completes delivery of NOAA and NASA space weather satellites for fall launch
Building blocks of life found in distant star system suggest origins in interstellar space
Deep-sea fish confirmed as a significant source of ocean carbonate



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.