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Stratafyre t1_jck4efu wrote

Reply to comment by dragon38 in Slovak government to send MIG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine by esberat

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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