West may by summer decide to send fighter jets to Ukraine, says acting Danish defense minister
F-16 fighter jet (Photo:REUTERS/Ann Wang)
Ukraine’s allies in the West may decide whether to send modern fighter jets to Ukraine by the summer, the Danish newspaper Berlingske quoted Denmark’s Acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen as saying during his visit to Ukraine on April 10.
The Danish politician said the discussion would take some time, as countries must act collectively, but a solution is still possible “in the short term.”
“Denmark doesn’t plan to do it alone,” Poulsen said.
“We must do it together with several countries. We also need to have a dialogue with the Americans on this issue.”
Denmark has 43 F-16 fighter jets. They are gradually being taken out of service following the purchase by Denmark of 27 of the new F-35 fighter jets. However, 30 F-16 fighters were still in service with the country as of November 2022.
Meanwhile, Poulsen announced on April 10 that Denmark had decided to transfer a total of 100 Leopard-1 main battle tanks to Ukraine after reaching an agreement with Germany.
He also noted that Ukraine could receive CAESAR artillery systems in May.
Slovakia became the first NATO member to openly supply Ukraine with fighter jets after it sent four Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Kyiv on March 23.
Polish President Andrzej Duda announced recently that his country had sent four more MiG-29s to Ukraine.
In total, Kyiv has received eight such aircraft from Warsaw.
Modernized Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets would be of considerable aid to Ukraine. However, they wouldn’t be a game changer at the front line as they lack on-board radar and can’t launch modern missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force has said.
Ukraine needs modern, multi-role fighter jets, the Ukrainian military has repeatedly stressed to its allies.
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