Zelenskiy, in London, wins pledge to train pilots on NATO jets
Last edited Wed Feb 8, 2023, 01:27 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Reuters
KYIV/LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy embarked on a European tour on Wednesday to drum up aid, winning a British pledge to train Ukrainian pilots on advanced NATO fighter jets, a big step up in Western military support.
On just his second trip abroad since Russian forces invaded Ukraine last year, he met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and addressed parliament in London. He was later due in Paris for dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, before a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels.
In his speech to British lawmakers, Zelenskiy repeatedly hammered home his plea for combat aircraft, which he referred to as "wings for freedom". Western countries have so far stopped short of providing warplanes or weapons that can strike deep inside Russia.
Ukraine "will do everything possible and impossible to make the world provide us with modern planes to empower and protect pilots who will be protecting us," Zelenskiy said. He gave a pilot's helmet to parliamentary speaker Lindsay Hoyle carrying the message: "We have freedom, give us wings to protect it".
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zelenskiy-vows-changes-will-bolster-ukraine-amid-defence-minister-uncertainty-2023-02-06/
Article updated.
Original article -
KYIV/LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Britain on Wednesday to drum up aid, winning a pledge to train Ukrainian pilots on advanced NATO fighter jets, a big symbolic step up in Western military support against Russia's invasion.
On just his second trip abroad since Russian forces swept into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, he met Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and thanked Britain for "marching with us towards the most important victory of our lifetime". But he repeatedly hammered home a call for combat aircraft, which he referred to as "wings for freedom".
Ukraine "will do everything possible and impossible to make the world provide us with modern planes to empower and protect pilots who will be protecting us," Zelenskiy told hundreds of British lawmakers in London's Westminster Hall.
Shortly before his arrival, Sunak's office announced plans to expand a programme training Ukraine's military to include its air force, "to ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future".
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The majority of NATO fighters are General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons. This is due to the fighter being made in relatively large quantities, widespread use by the US airforce and the selling of F-16's to US NATO allies, like Turkey, Poland and the Netherlands. The Eurofighter Typhoon is also commonly used in NATO, although not in the same quantities as the F-16, with the European nations United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain using it as their main fighter. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is also available in quantity in NATO and are growing in numbers with the US having a relatively large amount in service and smaller numbers being operated by individual NATO countries generally. The Dassault Rafale is for now only used by France and a small amount was acquired by Greece in 2020 and so is only available in small quantities. The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is also available, although in smaller quantities than even the Rafale, with the fighter being used by Spain and by Canada as Canada's McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet, a modernised variant of the Hornet. There is an extremely small number of Saab JAS 39 Gripen operated by the Czech and Hungarian airforce, with each country operating 14, making 28 in total.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_equipment_of_NATO 
