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dragon38 t1_jck28i3 wrote

thats good what about pilots does Ukraine have some as it takes a fair amount of training and flight time to be a competent pilot. Our Navy pilot program is 18-24 months just for basic qualifications advance training takes even longer. Sure they could cut alot of the non-essentials out but still going to need

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Stratafyre t1_jck4efu wrote

Ukraine already uses the MIG-29 - so they will have pilots familiar with the equipment and ready to go.

This is actually ideal in the short term, as they are NOT currently trained with Western aircraft.

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Bagellord t1_jckk3qm wrote

I imagine that they probably have more pilots than usable aircraft at any one time. Combat aircraft are very complicated to keep in a ready state, so you're going to have aircraft that are unable to be used. Adding more aircraft or even just spare parts is going to enable them to increase their sorties.

Regular aircraft require a significant amount of maintenance just to fly safely, now add even more systems to that - radar, more communication gear, countermeasure/defensive systems, then the weapons, and it gets even worse. Then when you look at fighters, that can undergo extreme stresses, it compounds everything.

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Rockguy101 t1_jclki20 wrote

I'm also willing to bet Ukraine is holding back airpower and resources in the western part of the country waiting for other countries to send equipment.

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CloudTransit t1_jckggbt wrote

I heard a story from a YouTube video of a panel at Yale (hosted by Marci Shore and Timothy Snyder) that Ukraine was flying their jets at all times at the beginning of the war. So, there are many pilots per jet getting lots of experience. They ready

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canada432 t1_jckz73t wrote

It's one of the reasons western countries haven't been sending things like F-16s and F-15s. Ukrainian pilots are already familiar with the MIG-29, SU-24, SU-25, and SU-27. Giving them entirely new planes wasn't all that useful because they'd have to train pilots from scratch on them. But these are perfect because no training is necessary.

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FloridaManIssues t1_jck8u4y wrote

They would have a jump start being pilots already. Add to that they are likely learning on PC simulators before they arrive for official training so they can take delivery ASAP.

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SocialWinker t1_jcnnzvb wrote

For what it’s worth, it’s a fleet of 11 planes, many of which are going for parts because they’re not operational. And I believe Ukraine already flies the mig-29, so I would assume they have the pilots for whatever of these can fly.

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