There will be planes! Maybe a Eurofighter Typhoon. Great Britain is going to train Ukrainian pilots on NATO fighter jets
President Zelenskyy is arriving in Great Britain today to meet with the country’s Prime Minister and visit the Ukrainian military. This is the second foreign visit of the president of Ukraine after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
On the eve of the visit, the website of the government of the United Kingdom posted a press release which talks about Great Britain’s intention to start training Ukrainian pilots and marines.
“The Prime Minister announces plans to expand training for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to sea and air, including fighter jet pilots and marines, as part of long-term investment in their military,” the message says.”The training will ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future. As part of that long-term capability investment, the UK will work with Ukraine and international allies to coordinate collective support to meet Ukraine’s defensive needs.”
The training will complement a training program already in place in the UK, which has trained 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the past six months and will train another 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers this year. The United Kingdom will continue to work with the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the international community to expand the program in 2023.
“President Zelenskyy’s visit to the UK is a testament to his country’s courage, determination and fight, and a testament to the unbreakable friendship between our two countries”, said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “I am proud that today we will expand that training from soldiers to marines and fighter jet pilots, ensuring Ukraine has a military able to defend its interests well into the future. It also underlines our commitment to not just provide military equipment for the short term, but a long-term pledge to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for years to come.”
The press release does not say which modern Western fighters are in question, but the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning and Eurofighter Typhoon fighters are in service with the Royal Air Force of Great Britain. With a probability of almost 100%, we are talking about the Eurofighter Typhoon, especially since out of 100 such fighters, 22 are training sparks.
Eurofighter Typhoon is a multi-role fighter of the fourth generation, developed by a consortium of companies Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems and EADS. The fighter made its first flight in 1996, and has been in service with the British Air Force since 2003. The aircraft is operated by Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In total, almost 700 fighters were produced.
Since the beginning of operation, the fighter has been refined and received updates in the following production batches: support for new missiles, a new on-board computer, radar, and so on.
It is a more than modern aircraft that can use the entire range of NATO missiles and bombs: AIM-120 AMRAAM, MBDA Meteor, IRIS-T, AIM-132 ASRAAM, AIM-9 Sidewinder, Storm Shadow/Scalp EG, Brimstone, AGM-88 HARM, AGM-65 Maverick, Taurus KEPD 350, SPEAR 3, Marte ER, Joint Strike Missile and others. Eurofighter Typhoon can carry more than 9,000 kg of payload.
It is not known whether Ukraine will receive Eurofighter Typhoon fighters in the near future, but if our pilots master this aircraft, they will be able to quickly retrainI on any modern western fighter.
Great Britain was the first to send modern Western tanks to Ukraine, it seems now the United Kingdom wants to be the first of the allies to offer fighter jets to the Armed Forces. Thank you Great Britain!
Eurofighter Typhoon fighter specifications
Crew – 1 or 2 people
Length – 15.96 m
Wingspan – 10.95 m
Height – 5.28 m
Wing area – 51.2 m2
Empty weight – 11,000 kg
Full weight – 16,000 kg
Maximum take-off weight – 23,500 kg
Payload – 9,500 kg
Power plant – 2 × Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan engines, 60 kN thrust each dry, 90 kN with afterburner
Maximum speed – 2125 km/h at an altitude of 11,000 m; 1530 km/h at sea level
Supercruise – Mach 1.5
Range – 2,900 km
Combat range – 1,389 km
Ceiling – 19,812 m
g limits – +9 / –3
Rate of climb – 315 m/s
Armament – 1 × 27 mm Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon with 150 rounds
Hardpoints – 13 (8 × under-wing; and 5 × under-fuselage pylon stations; holding in excess of 9,000 kg of payload)
Typical multi-role configuration – 4 × AMRAAM, 2×ASRAAM/IRIS-T, 4 × EGBU-16/Paveway-IV, 2 × 1000-litre supersonic fuel tanks and a targeting pod