CBS: Blinken says NATO countries have "green light" to send fighter jets to Ukraine

[onetexan]

Source: CBS

Washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that NATO members have the go-ahead to send fighter jets to Ukraine as the U.S. and allies continue their efforts to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion.


"That gets a green-light," Blinken said in an interview with "Face the Nation" when asked whether the Polish government, a member of NATO, could send fighter planes to Ukraine. "In fact, we're talking with our Polish friends right now about what we might be able to do to backfill their needs if in fact they choose to provide these fighter jets to the Ukrainians. What can we do? How can we help to make sure that they get something to backfill the planes that they are handing over to the Ukrainians?"

Transcript: Secretary of State Antony Blinken on "Face the Nation"



Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-russia-war-fighter-jets-antony-blinken-face-the-nation/

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We stand with Ukraine!!

[SheltieLover]

1. Yaaaaaay!

🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

[Wingus Dingus]

2. Incremental pushback--the wisest way to go, IMO.

Openly discussed and telegraphed, so Putin knows what we're doing. It's a careful dance, of sorts.

[RKP5637]

3. Excellent!!! n/t

[abqtommy]

4. Putin will say that this is an escalation and an act of war. Damn right! But he doesn't

get to make the rules and he's nothing but a bullying fool.

[wnylib]

11. What rules? Putin does not abide by any.

So we can make and follow our rules, so long as they work for us.

[BidenRocks]

30. Yo Pootie Poot.

After 4 years of tfg's bullshit, you do not scare us.

FUCK OFF!!

Let's Roll!

[samsingh]

5. i want to hear that some jets have actually been delivered to Ukraine.

[BidenRocks]

31. Sukhoi fighters were transferred from Poland

More drones are in from Turkey.

I like the expression, Backfill.

This is a great way for Poland to upgrade their air forces. Ukraine gets familiar Su's and in return Poland
upgrades to F-35's at a discount.

Win win!

[samsingh]

33. the jets are in Ukraine's hands? is there an official link?

[BidenRocks]

39. I should know better than

to trust a YouTube video on the Polish jets.
They are still talking about it.
The drones made it.
Sorry for the mess up!

[lagomorph777]

36. Backfill is Win-Win! My words, exactly.

[PortTack]

6. Thank the gods!

[Evolve Dammit]

7. Ukraine need the support badly. We cannot watch this brutal aggression and not respond.

[bluewater]

8. Russia has 1,500 combat aircraft, how many jets will Poland be sending Ukraine?

Last edited Sun Mar 6, 2022, 04:09 PM - Edit history (2)

Notably, Russia has a far larger air force than its neighbor. Flight Global's 2022 World Air Forces directory lists Russia as having 1,511 combat aircraft, while Ukraine has just under 100.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/03/03/putin-overestimated-russias-military-ukraine-hes-still-threat-air-force-secretary-says.html

Those aren't all jets though, but the imbalance remains strongly tilted in Russia's favor.

But every jet Poland could send would help, at least for morale purposes.

EDIT:
Right now Poland only has 23 Mig-29's and 18 Su-22's or so in service.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Air_Force#Present-day_operations

How many can they spare during this war?

[Deminpenn]

12. It's not total aircraft, it's

how many are ready to fly at any given time. Given what we've seen with Russian ground forces, would bet the Russian AF is at considerably less than 100% readiness.

[paleotn]

17. Preciesly

No air force is ever at 100%. Plus, they can't all be committed to Ukraine. Russia has other security focuses as well. Ukraine, however, has only 1 focus and is totally committed.

[bluewater]

22. And Poland only has 41 total aircraft to send that the Ukrainian air force can fly.

How many of that total will they be sending to Ukraine?

I hope all of them. The heroic armed force of Ukraine needs more support immediately as President Zelensky made clear to the US Senate just yesterday.

[paleotn]

16. So your suggestion is what? Give up?

Only roughly 300 air assets are near Ukraine. They still have to maintain defensive postures on other frontiers, so the entire Russian air force isn't committed.

Is there any parade you DON'T want to rain on?

[bluewater]

20. "Is there any parade you DON'T want to rain on?" I rather face reality than pretend things are fine.

Being honest about what level of support is being sent to the steadfast Ukrainian resistance is important.

Their country is about to be overwhelmed by an invader with a vastly superior military force.

Asking how many planes are being sent from Poland frames the discussion of how much help we are actually lending Ukraine in their hour of need.

Again, Poland only has a total of about 41 airplanes the Ukrainians would be trained to fly.

EDIT:
Right now Poland only has 23 Mig-29's and 18 Su-22's or so in service.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Air_Force#Present-day_operations

How many can they spare during this war?

Sorry if discussing these numbers "rains on" anyone's "parade".

The fact of the matter is that right now our democratic ally Ukraine is losing the war and is in desperate straits.

I believe President Zelensky when he tells us exactly how desperate things are:

Russia's "brutal, cynical" attack on Vinnytsia has left the city's airport "completely destroyed," Zelensky said.

"We repeat every day: 'close the sky over Ukraine!' Close for all Russian missiles, Russian combat aircraft, for all these terrorists. Make a humanitarian air zone,” he said.

“If you do not do that, if you at least do not give us aircraft for us to be able to protect ourselves, there can be only one conclusion: you want us to be slowly killed."

https://www.axios.com/zelensky-no-fly-zone-vinnytsia-c0dfe259-6515-4821-aeed-66c6be5f3960.html

While a no-fly zone has been ruled out, I have been posting relentlessly that much more needs to be done to change the actual military balance or Ukraine is lost.

If being honest like that bothers anyone, well, too bad.

[James48]

23. Let me spell it out for you.

Last edited Sun Mar 6, 2022, 06:32 PM - Edit history (1)

Ukraine cannot beat Russia militarily.

Therefore, all it can do is damage Russian forces, and then make occupying Ukraine untenable for the long term.

You dont beat Russia with 40 jets. But you hurt them. And with Stingers, and Javelines, and a wide variety of weapons over time. Make Russia pay an incredible price.

They may end up taking over Ukraine, but they will never be able to hold on to it. Too many Ukrainians, and the rest of the world, will see to that in the long run.

[bluewater]

26. Where we disagree is I think with more support Ukraine can fight Russia to a stand still.

I might be wrong, but I am not giving up hope on that.

Best regards.

[anamnua]

29. Precisely

They win by just not losing.

[onetexan]

24. UKR will not lose this war; it's got NATO behind it and its neighboring allies.

UKR will be devastated but Putin will not win this war because the free world cannot allow him to win. The stakes are too high.

[bluewater]

27. I hope you are right about Ukraine not losing this war.

But we need to do all we can to support Ukraine so the entire country is not devastated.

[NJCher]

25. hmmm, I just printed out this quote for my refrigerator door

Seems like it might be appropriate here:

Don't worry
too much
about how
you are going
to get it all done.
Get started,
learn as you go,
and it will all come to you.

Action creates momentum,
and momentum energizes
you to keep going.


I think this is applicable because using your thinking, it will be these planes and that's it.

That's not necessarily how it's going to go.

The quote above pretty much describes any situation.

Everything has to start somewhere.

It's a start: that's all it is is a start.

Cheebus.

It's not about "being honest."

But hey, some people are permanently born under a blue funk. Maybe that's you, and I'm sorry you have to live your life that way.

[bluewater]

28. I apologize for being in a "blue funk" when discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[drray23]

32. I am very skeptical they are all operational

Given the display of sheer incompetence they have shown so far, I would not be surprised that many of them are not maintained properly and can't be used. The Ukrainians have shot down SU-34's for example which are supposed to be the most sophisticated bombers Russia has. How is that supposed to happen? Any decent airforce would have eliminated all the anti-aircraft units on the ground and established air superiority before sending in bombers.

The fact Russia has not done it yet is suspicious.

[lagomorph777]

37. The anti-aircraft units on the ground are not fixed installations.

They're angry guys hiding under trees, etc. Very hard to eliminate!

[Tommymac]

9. BIG Win for Ukraine, The Free World, and President Joe Biden.

[Karadeniz]

10. Yippee!

[MineralMan]

13. Only Russian Planes will be useful to Ukrainian pilots.

It would take too long and would be impractical to retrain them to fly US fighters, for example. Today's military planes are complex, and learning to fly them well, or even at all, is not something that happens instantly.

Ukrainian pilots fly Migs and Sukhoi planes. That is what they need right now. So, Poland has some. Perhaps other nations have some that they could give to or loan to Ukraine. No other planes will be of use, unfortunately.

[paleotn]

18. Another upside of admitting former eastern block nations into NATO

They still have lots of Russian equipment Ukrainians are trained to use. Germany inherited some from former East Germany. We even own some MIG 29's. Bought from Moldova way back in the Clinton years I think to keep them out of Iranian hands.

[MineralMan]

19. I wonder if the MiG-29s we own are operational.

I have no idea, but it may be that they are not. It's pretty hard to source parts for them here, I would think.

Poland might have the same problem, actually, although I believe they are still in their active inventory.

Russia has also sold military aircraft to other countries, as well.

[paleotn]

41. They were used off and on by various US aggressor squadrons

Not sure what their airworthiness is currently. Russia has been selling aircraft and spares on the open market for decades, so keeping them up to snuff wouldn't be that tough. Then again, they may be out in a Nevada boneyard now that they're a bit dated and we know everything there is to know about them.

[lagomorph777]

38. That's the genius of the backfill idea.

Poland has been ramping up to use NATO stuff for years now.

They may as well send the old stuff to Ukraine, and upgrade their own stuff.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

40. There are Ukrainian AF pilots NATO-trained to fly A-10's. Last week retired generals and defense

officials openly suggested transferring A-10's that would otherwise head to the boneyard. The suggestion didn't go anywhere (yet). The Mi-29's and possibly Su-25's have been on the table for at least a couple of weeks. The Mig 29's would be especially useful for Ukraine.

[blue-wave]

14. The ghost of Kyiv lives on!

[Traildogbob]

15. Can we use

The Jewish space lasers to deNatzee the Russians the fuck out of Ukraine? How about sponsoring a bill for that Marginal Trailer Queen? You know who operates them, surely those Jewish laser techs would be all for it.

[Cha]

21. KR TY, onetexan!

💙💛

[Mysterian]

34. I'm really impressed with the Polish response to the Ukraine war

The Polish are being great NATO partners and good neighbors for the Ukrainian refugees.

All the Polish people should be proud.

[lagomorph777]

35. That's an excellent investment. I love the backfill idea.

Every tank, plane, or general killed by Ukraine will never attack us in battle. Let's help them do it, and damage Putin's ability to move into the rest of Europe.

Let Poland "unload" their old Soviet-era stuff, which Ukraine is ready to use right away (or close to it). Meanwhile, Poland has probably been gearing up to use Western equipment for years.

It's win-win.