U.S. general calls on West to send fighter jets to Ukraine 'as soon as possible'

[AntiFascist]

Source: Politico

The commanding general of the California National Guard is calling on U.S. and other Western officials to explore sending fighter jets to Ukraine “as soon as possible,” rekindling a longstanding request by Kyiv.

In a statement to POLITICO on Friday, Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, California National Guard adjutant general, also said sending Soviet-era MiG fighters in the near term is the best “immediate solution.”

“MiGs are the best immediate solution to support the Ukrainians, but U.S. or western fighters are options that should be explored as soon as possible,” Baldwin said.

...snip
California Guard members, particularly the pilots, are communicating with Ukrainian soldiers and airmen on a daily basis to share tactics and ideas, Baldwin noted.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/u-s-general-calls-on-west-to-send-fighter-jets-to-ukraine-as-soon-as-possible/ar-AAY3rFi

[oldsoftie]

4. Taiwan already has modern weaponry & they're trained.

Although their army needs to take their role a lot more seriously than they have in the past.

[Groundhawg]

2. please please please don't get us into another war Joe!

[Rebl2]

3. Ukraine not

part of NATO. Won’t happen.

[AntiFascist]

5. This general is only calling for sending fighter jets, not sending American pilots...

also, some Ukrainian pilots might be brought up to speed on US jets relatively fast:

https://www.aerosociety.com/news/ukraine-time-to-fast-track-front-line-fighter-pilot-training/

A: Conversion to a front line combat aircraft for a new pilot would usually take about six months to become limited combat ready. However, a more experienced pilot would take less than half that time, and someone requalifying on type after a break would only take a few weeks. If operational reasons demanded, then a much shorter course for experienced pilots learning a new type, focused only on the relevant tactics and weapons, could be done in four to six weeks, much of which could be done on simulators.

...

A: I don't agree that aircraft 'gifting' crosses a fictional red line, so I have struggled with the approach taken by some nations. For example, if giving an aircraft purely capable of the air defence role, why is that seen as an offensive weapon? If we subscribe to the concept of collective defence and have decided that we will arm Ukraine in their struggle against a ruthless and overwhelming enemy, why would we wish to tie one hand behind their back? Of course Russia wouldn't like it, but that is because they fear the impact of airpower, which is exactly why we should do it. Action is long overdue.

[Igel]

9. Not his decision.

Putin in 2 years could decide (should he still draw breath and hold power) that Russia is again in a position to take revenge for what NATO did in 2022.

And attack.

Bam.

[erronis]

7. Just a question. Can the US send non-manned fighter drones to combat against the USSR?

Without provoking the crippled bear?

Would the drone operators possibly be in Ukraine? Or NATO? Who would know?

How is this really different than the kremlin directing cyber attacks against other nations around the world?

There is a huge philosophical discussion as to where national and other land boundaries exist. And why do we still have "nations"? Everything is global unless some elites decide it is local.

[BootinUp]

8. There was a report from one of Kyiv news outlets that armed US drones

are going to be sold to Ukraine in the near future. I posted a thread, yesterday, or the day before. Here:

https://democraticunderground.com/100216754821

[AntiFascist]

11. Interesting...

I think I had posted previously that they were trying to sell MQ-9 Reaper drones to Ukraine.

[oldsoftie]

12. I'd be surprised if there weren't SOME "remotely piloted" drones being used already

And the "remote" place could be anywhere in the world. As you say, how would anyone know? As long as people keep their damn mouths shut. I've said it before; flag the drones with UKR flags and markings in case they get shot down and have at it. We couldn't flood the air with them because that would be too obvious, but every little bit helps.
UKR is losing over 50 troops a day. Not as many as the Russians, but just like in Vietnam, Korea, and the Pacific in WW2, the enemy doesnt care about how many THEY lose.

[cstanleytech]

10. I think providing anti air and anti tank missiles probably makes more sense

as they can scatter and hide caches all over the country.
That and providing them high end consumer drones that the Ukrainian military can modify for offensive missions as well as reconnaissance.

[Pachamama]

13. Send the Warthogs...

[ripcord]

14. We wouldn't want to upset the Russians while they are engaged in their invasion now would we?

[agincourt]

15. My impression of the situation

is that we are in a slow moving war with Putinstan and that anything that helps Ukraine militarily, puts the US farther away from getting hit by Russia rather than the other direction.

[LudwigPastorius]

16. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes.

We could be training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 simulators right now.

Ukrainian-flagged U.S. pilots could be flying MIGs over there right now.

These are not the kinds of things that we would tell the world about.

[SMoss]

17. Flying Tigers

American Expeditionary Force made up of former US Airforce A10 volunteer pilots and donated A10s. Th a Airforce wants to get rid of the Warthogs. They a flown mostly by reserrvists. A lot of those guys would resign their commissions and would volunteer. Iraq was a load of fun for those guys. Anti-tank war in Europe was what that plane was designed for.
The US is not getting involved. We just rented planes and some non-militaty citizens volunteered to fly the planes.