Good news for Ukraine: Apparently the United States has no objection to the delivery of MiG-29 fighter jets from Slovakia – this is reported by several media, citing a press conference with a senior official of the US Department of Defense. It is still unclear how many aircraft will be made available, Slovakia currently has eleven. “We will certainly not raise any objections. We have no right to object,” the US Department of Defense official was quoted as saying by the Washington Examiner. A similar offer of help from Poland failed in mid-March on the grounds that it was highly risky and unacceptable.
The Slovakian government had already given away its complete air defense system and delivered it to Ukraine in a two-day secret operation. Dating back to Soviet times, the S-300 missile system can destroy enemy aircraft or missiles. Therefore, the Ukrainians can also handle it – an advantage that the MiGs also have. As a replacement, Slovakia has now received the American system of the Patriot type. In addition, 16 self-propelled Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers will help the Ukrainian army.
The MiG-29 was planned by the USSR in the 1970s as a front-line aircraft capable of operating from unpaved airfields with the task of providing direct support to the armed forces. This also includes the defense of airfields or cities. The Fulcrum-A/B version used by the Slovak Air Force was updated in 2008 and featured a new glass cockpit with multifunction LCD displays and digital calculator. Ukraine currently has more pilots than operational aircraft.
Other European countries are also increasing their offers of help: a Czech company has recently been offering free shooting training for Ukrainian refugees. There they not only learn how to use a weapon safely, but also how to move in a combat situation and how to administer first aid. The almost three-hour training for trainers, weapons and shooting range was financed through crowdfunding.
Some of the participants have already completed the course several times, and some even came from Austria. Angry at the Russian aggression, they want to “do something about it” – some with very specific plans to return home soon.
