Poland May Trade Its Oldest Jets For Ukraine’s Drone Know-How
Warsaw wants Ukrainian drone tech in return for its last few MiG-29s
Poland may give Ukraine another 15 or so MiG-29 fighters
Ukraine has scores of MiGs, but needs the extra jets to compensate for losses of other types
The MiGs are old but useful—and they buy time for the Ukrainian air force as it awaits newer jets
Poland may give Ukraine its last few Soviet-made Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters. The twin-
engine, supersonic fighters are decades old and may not have much airframe life left. But Ukraine doesn’t need them to last forever. They’d be a temporary fix to a worsening problem.
Reinforcing the Ukrainian air force’s three MiG-29 brigades, the leftover Polish planes could help compensate for the steady decline in the air force’s inventory of larger Sukhoi Su-27 interceptors—and buy time for the air arm as it awaits additional Western-made fighters.
The Polish general staff in Warsaw announced the possible MiG-29 transfer on Tuesday. “Negotiations are ongoing with the Ukrainian side regarding the transfer of MiG-29 aircraft,” the staff stated. “A final decision has not yet been made.”
If the deal does go through, Ukraine stands to gain 14 or 15 1980s-vintage—but heavily upgraded—MiG-29s to add to its existing fleet, which combines Ukraine’s scores of original ex-Soviet MiG-29s with 30 additional MiGs donated by Azerbaijan, Slovakia, and Poland after Russia widened its war on Ukraine in February 2022.
Exactly how many MiG-29s are left in the Ukrainian inventory is a closely held secret. Ukrainian brigades went to war with around 36 active MiGs, lost 31 in action, and likely grounded others owing to airframe fatigue. At the same time, they replaced nearly every single shot down jet with a donated one and also added to their pre-war inventory by restoring unflyable jets sitting in long-term storage.
It’s possible, after all this time and all this fighting, the air force has more flyable MiG-29s than it did before February 2022. Adding another 15 or so Polish airframes would add further resilience to what has proved to be a highly resilient force.
Read the rest at Euromaidan Press.
