Poland hesitant to send fighter jets to Ukraine over fears it could deplete national fleet

Poland, among the first to promise tanks to Ukraine, is now hesitating to send fighter jets to its neighbor over fears that it would deplete its own air force’s already small fleet of combat aircraft.

President Andrzej Duda told BBC sending F-16 aircraft would be a “very serious decision” that was “not easy to take,” even after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week during his marathon tour through Europe, in which he called for additional air support.

“I appeal to you and the world with the simple, and yet most important words — combat aircraft for Ukraine, wings for freedom,” Zelensky told the UK Parliament in London.

But Duda said Poland has fewer than 50 of the aircraft in the Polish air force, which has complicated the decision to send F-16s to Ukraine.

“We have not enough … and we would need many more of them,” Duda said, adding that the aircraft also have a “very serious need for maintenance” so it is “not enough just to send a few planes.”

The difficult decision came to light as the White House announced President Biden is scheduled to travel to Poland on Feb. 20 to mark the first anniversary of the Russian invasion and meet with Duda and other allies to Ukraine’s east.

“He wants to talk about the importance of the international community’s resolve and unity in supporting Ukraine for now going on a year,” John Kirby, the communications coordinator at the National Security Council, told reporters.

The US has yet to commit to sending F-16s to Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not rule it out when speaking to reporters last week in Washington, despite earlier comments from Biden that the US will not send the jets.

“[The US] will continue to make judgments about what we think Ukraine needs and what it can be most effective using,” Blinken said.

Other Western allies to Ukraine have also been slow to commit to sending jets.

British Defense Minister Ben Wallace told BBC that it would take years for Ukrainian pilots to learn how to fly Eurofighter Typhoon jets, which Zelensky asked for last week, although London has agreed to start training Ukrainian forces.

“This is not a simple case of towing an aircraft to the border,” Wallace said, adding that the planes would also require support teams.

“Without a pit crew, a Formula One car basically can’t start and it certainly can’t last more than a few laps,” Wallace said. “When you start doing high-end, sophisticated weapons like fighter jets, there’s a pit crew that comes along with it, and we have to ask questions about that as well.”