Typhoons not the best fighter jet to send Ukraine, expert says
F-16 fighter jets are a better option for Ukraine's aerial defence against Russia than the UK's Typhoon aircraft, according to a retired RAF Air Marshal.
Air Marshal (Ret'd) Greg Bagwell, former Deputy Commander of Operations, told Forces News that the only aircraft the UK could "spare" would be the older Tranche 1 Typhoon.
It comes after Rishi Sunak said "nothing is off the table" when it comes to the question of providing fighter jets to Ukraine.
The Prime Minister, speaking during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in London on Wednesday, said sending warplanes was "part of the conversation" between the pair.
Air Marshal Bagwell said: "If it's a UK gift, then there really is only one viable option and that is the older version of the Typhoon – the Tranche 1s, as they're known.
"There's not many of them and they are a little bit out of date in terms of their support but that’s about the only thing we’ve got 'spare'. I use that word advisedly, because there’s almost nothing spare right now but those are the ones that are due to leave service quite soon."
Air Marshal Bagwell said the issue of maintenance is another problem: "They come with a huge challenge – you're going to have to train people up on them, train the maintainers, provide spares packages. That aircraft has been going out of service now for many years.
"We keep bringing it back from the dead and now it's going once again which means we’ve stopped developing the software, we've stopped the supply chain of certain spares and avionics."
The UK also must keep enough combat aircraft for Nato defence, particularly against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, according to Air Marshal Bagwell.
"The UK doesn't have much, if any, spare capacity. We know that the military has been – shall we say – less funded than it used to be so it is a lot smaller.
"That creates its own problems and of course we do need to worry about if Russia decides to do something else, is Nato ready and what is our part in the Nato defence?"
Instead, he argues, the F-16 is a better candidate for a role in Ukraine's defence.
He said: "My personal view has been it’s not the right aircraft because there aren’t enough. I think it needs to be something like an F-16.
"There are thousands of those in the world, they're still being built, they'll be upgradable for many, many years. They can carry all the modern weapons systems that other aircraft can".
"I think one on one against a Typhoon, you might well take a Typhoon, but if you can get 200 of those [F-16s] and you know that they've got a lifetime and a support network that will run them on for 10, 15, 20 years – that would be my preference."
Downing Street confirmed the Prime Minister had asked Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to investigate what jets the UK could potentially give to Ukraine in its struggle against invading Russian forces.
No 10 had announced that the UK would start training Ukrainian air force pilots as part of a long-term strategy to safeguard Kyiv's future.
It represented a change in approach, with Downing Street previously arguing it would take too long to train pilots to fly Western fighter planes to have an impact on the war in eastern Europe.
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