[Not buying it, having an aviation background, military and civilian, aircraft without competent experienced maintenance and supply sit on the ground for a long time…and Ukie pilots without extensive training, ( years) will be fodder, and they know it.]
They have trained combat pilots. Moving from one aircraft type to another is no joke, but it can be compressed, given wartime exigencies. Ukrainians claim 2-3 weeks should be adequate.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/01/ukraine-aims-high-request-f-15-and-f-16-jets-heres-why-it-probably-wont-happen.html
[”In the sky, the greatest need is for fighter jets — F-15s and F-16s of the fourth generation or higher would be sufficient,” the country’s Air Force tweeted on Thursday, “pilots can learn to fly these with just 2-3 weeks of training.”]
Besides - who knows more about what Ukraine needs than Ukrainians? That the liberal media is running interference for Biden is understandable, but the fact is Biden is throttling the aid because he knows that if the tide turns, those anonymous Russian buyers of Hunter’s artwork for exorbitant prices might suddenly dry up. Burisma’s owner, who served for 6 years in two pro-Russian administrations, is still in exile. Whatever corruption exists in Ukraine, it hasn’t gotten to the point where they are seizing the assets of even pro-Russian traitors. That’s quite distinct from Russia, where Putin added Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s fortune to his personal stash.
What is air power against more competent fliers and layered air defense?
I am unaware of any fact of the Ukrainian air defeating a Russian aircraft in the air battle. Ukrainians were getting shot down on a daily basis until they lost their aircraft. Whatever assets they hid in Poland and Romania get shot down to this day everywhere it shows up.