(To Francis Matera) The official bilateral between Melons e Zelensky in Brussels, due to the delay in work in the Council, only a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the Ukrainian president's summit with the heads of state and government of the European Union, divided by groups, was skipped. Italy was in the group with Sweden, Holland, Poland, Romania e Spain.
Meloni veteran of the setback of the missed invitation to Paris in the trilateral of the day before between Macron, Scholz e Zelensky he wanted to confirm Italy's support for Ukraine against Russian aggression. President Zelensky expressed his gratitude for the commitment shown by Rome. Zelensky also asked Italy for fighters and spoke of the probable trip of the Italian premier to Kiev.
The question of openness on the supply of fighters is starting to take hold. England is analyzing which and how many to supply, France has said it is possible while Germany for now believes that it is not a priority. The decision certainly cannot be of a national nature but at the European Union level, after having heard the opinion, or rather the endorsement, of NATO.
As Corsara writes, the aircraft must be available, exportable and the supply must not affect national security. The F-16s equipped with Atacms systems with a range of 300 kilometers are being examined by military experts.
France, on the other hand, is inclined to supply dated data The Mirage,, capable of using laser-guided bombs and providing support to ground forces. The Americans are following the decisions of the allies, certain that in the end it will be possible to pursue a common line. However, the US president, Joe Biden, has already excluded, for now, the sending of F-16s to Ukraine. Meanwhile Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-16, has announced it is ready to step up jet production.
The British are, therefore, considering training the Ukrainian pilots (two/three months of training) and supplying some fighters Eurofighter. In this regard, however, there are objective problems because these aircraft require specific maintenance in equipped aerobases, not present in Ukraine. Then there's the more delicate aspect: they cannot fall into enemy hands because they possess a secret technology and for this reason, before using them in war, it is necessary to receive the placet also of Italy, Germany and Spain, forming part of the industrial programme.
The Royal Air Force will retire 24 Typhoons by mid-decade and has a Flight Group of these aircraft ready which could be used as a British contribution as part of an international supply. The British defense minister Wallace however, he told the BBC that, at the moment, there will be no transfer of British fighter planes to Ukraine in the near future.
Zelensky seems more focused, in fact, on the acquisition of thethe American F-16s or perhaps on the Gripens Swedish-made and during the London meeting he asked Prime Minister Sunak to convince the United States and allies to hand them over.
On the pages of corsara the general Vincent Camporini, former Chief of Staff of the Italian Defense, explains that “The Eurofighter is certainly suitable for air defense operations and today it is in service with the Italian, German, Spanish, British and Austrian air forces. The numbers are there, but they are needed by individual countries: I would be surprised if they were deprived of them. Furthermore, the training times are quite long: a transition is needed for those who have never flown before".