Ukraine moves closer to getting F-15 and F-16 fighter jets as Washington approves training programme

Ukraine moved closer to adding more modern American fighter jets to its air force this week after US lawmakers agreed to pay for pilots to be trained on F-15s and F-16s in the States.

The US Congress approved a Defence Authorisation Act this week that contained a $100 million amendment to help shift Ukraine’s military hardware away from its ageing Soviet-era technology, which currently includes MiG-29s and Sukhoi planes.

"Ukrainian pilots are going to be taught to fly F-15 and F-16 fighters in the USA," Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration, said on Saturday.

"This amendment to the bill on the US defence budget for fiscal year 2023 was supported by the House of Representatives. It is planned to allocate $100 million for this."

The development revives speculation that Ukraine may be given F-class fighter jets, either from the US or Poland, which flies F-16s as well as Soviet-era MiG warplanes.

There have previously been calls to provide warplanes along with other military assistance, notably from British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

But Washington has so far been cautious about sending equipment to Ukraine because it is worried that Ukrainian forces will use US weapons to attack Russian territory.

The only known deal so far fell through in March, when Poland said it would transfer its MiG fighter jets to Ukraine in return for F-16 replacements from the US, and Washington refused.

The training will not start immediately. The US Senate, which isn't due to vote on it until September, still needs to pass the bill, and basic training on the F-15s and F-16s takes at least three months.

Kyiv has been calling for better planes to compete with Russia's more advanced air force since the beginning of the war.

"We are fighting with the equipment of the '70s and '80s, they are fighting with the equipment of 2010 and later," Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Colonel Yuri Ignat said in March.

"We would be grateful for the Soviet-made equipment offered to us by the countries of Central Europe which still have it. But it will not be enough," he said. "We would also like to have Western planes, such as F15, F16."