According to a report by RIA Novosti on the 27th, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Sergey Drozdov said in an interview with Ukrainian media on Monday that since Ukraine’s independence (Ukraine adopted the Declaration of Independence on August 24, 1991), the Ukrainian Air Force has not After installing a new military aircraft, the equipment of the fleet is seriously outdated and needs to be updated.
Drozdorf said, “I can say that the aviation equipment used by the Ukrainian army needs to be updated. These equipment are aging on the spiritual and physical levels. We are now driving equipment produced between 1968 and 1991 to defend us. The air border of the country. During Ukraine’s independence, we did not receive a single military aircraft.”
He said that the oldest aircraft in the Ukrainian Air Force is a military transport aircraft, which has been in service for 52 years. The attack aircraft, fighter jets, and reconnaissance aircraft equipped by the Uzbek Air Force, such as the Su-25, Su-24M, MiG-29, Su-27, and Su-24MR, were all produced between 1981 and 1991.
Drozdorf admitted that the maintenance and modernization of Soviet equipment cannot go on forever. He added, “The aircraft’s engines, parts, components, and fuselage have all been physically damaged. In about 10 years, we will face the problem of the aircraft’s inability to perform the designated mission.”
Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 fighter
At the same time, Drozdorf said that Ukraine is unlikely to develop a combat aircraft, a multi-role fighter, in the short term. He said that Ukraine does not have the corresponding technical foundation, production capacity and experience to do this. Therefore, Ukraine intends to purchase aviation equipment from partner countries in the future, “we are talking about a multi-purpose fighter, which will subsequently replace all types of Soviet fighters, attack aircraft and bombers equipped by the Ukrainian Air Force.”
