Ukraine has selected three Western platforms for the development of its combat aviation.

Colonel Oleksandr Diakiv, commander of the Air Force’s aviation, said this in a report by the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The aircraft in question are the Swedish JAS 39 Gripen, the French Rafale and the American F-16. According to Oleksandr Diakiv, these are the three platforms Ukraine can use most effectively, given not only their combat characteristics but also the realities of operating them.

The selection took into account the cost of the aircraft and of operating them, their weapons, logistics, the availability of spare parts, the capabilities of Ukrainian infrastructure, and the speed of repairs and of fixing battle damage.

“We went through every platform that could possibly suit us. And we concluded that Ukraine can operate three platforms with maximum effectiveness: the Gripen, the Rafale and the F-16,” Colonel Oleksandr Diakiv said.

From the F-16 to a new air force

F-16s are already flying in Ukraine, so the Air Force has not only the aircraft themselves but also trained personnel — pilots, technicians and other specialists who know the specifics of operating them.

According to Oleksandr Diakiv, this experience will make it easier to master other Western platforms more quickly.

The commander singled out the Gripen. He said this multirole fighter can operate against both air and ground targets, and that weapons produced not only in Sweden but elsewhere in Europe have been integrated onto it.

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Oleksandr Diakiv named the Gripen’s undemanding infrastructure requirements as one of its important advantages. The aircraft can operate from unprepared surfaces and from designated stretches of road. Turning it round for another sortie requires minimal ground personnel, he said, and preparation can take as little as 15 to 20 minutes.

The aircraft is only part of the system

Moving to new platforms does not mean Ukraine will simply receive the aircraft and put them into service straight away.

“Getting a new platform is not just a case of ‘here, take the aircraft’. It is a whole package,” Oleksandr Diakiv stressed.

Weapons, ground support equipment, spare parts, logistics and trained personnel have to come with the aircraft. Ukrainian specialists are currently training abroad — pilots, engineering and technical staff, and logistics specialists.

It is people, the commander said, who will determine how quickly Ukraine can build up its aviation capabilities.

“We are ready only when the equipment arrives together with the people,” Oleksandr Diakiv said.

Ukrainian experience is already changing aviation

Ukraine is also working actively with partners within the aviation coalition. According to the aviation commander, partners are increasingly not just offering ready-made solutions but helping to implement initiatives that Ukraine itself has developed on the basis of combat experience.

This includes the experience of Ukrainian pilots, technicians and combat control officers working in real wartime conditions, where every sortie takes place under threat from enemy aircraft and air defences.

“You can buy an aircraft, you can buy a missile, you can buy a bomb, but you cannot buy experience,” Oleksandr Diakiv stressed.

This is the experience Ukraine must draw on as it transitions to new Western platforms, he said. Their arrival, the training of personnel and the reconfiguration of infrastructure will happen gradually, so that each subsequent batch of equipment already reflects the lessons of combat use.