The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Kiev is counting on receiving 150 Gripen fighter jets. The first of them should be delivered next year. This is what Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel.
Zelensky announced that together with Sweden, Ukraine will significantly increase its combat aviation. He emphasized that this is an ambitious task and must be fulfilled.
"This is a historic moment - the agreement with Sweden on Gripen fighter jets“, and this is a good choice. We are counting on 150 such aircraft for Ukraine, and the first ones should arrive next year“, the president wrote.
Zelensky added that Gripen for Ukraine is part of the security guarantees. That is, such air forces that will be able to protect the Ukrainian sky 100%. The president emphasizes that this is a historic achievement.
"There has never been such a large-scale agreement on military aviation for Ukraine. A historic achievement. We are working to fully implement it. Sweden, thank you“, Zelensky summarizes.
The nature of the military actions between Ukraine and Russia is determined not only by the amount of weapons, but also by the competition between the countries in technical innovations and improvisation in general. A vivid example of this is the use of guided bombs (KAB) with a jet engine by the Russians, writes CNN.
"Improvisation and innovation have become slogans for both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries, who are trying to outwit each other on land, at sea and in the air. Both countries are using artificial intelligence, robotics and unmanned systems at a high rate“, the publication writes.
The authors of the article emphasize that not all innovations in this war are high-tech. On the contrary, often it is simple, even primitive technical solutions that can have a significant effect. As an example, CNN gives the strike against the explosives factory in the Russian city of Dzerzhinsk, 2,000 km from Ukraine. To carry it out, the Ukrainians used a light aircraft equipped for automatic flight without a pilot, and equipped it with a very simple bomb.
And this is not an isolated case.
The program was created by an aviation enthusiast with the call sign “Goronych” and converts single-seater aircraft into elementary but effective long-range missiles. Instead of a pilot's seat, there is an additional fuel tank and batteries that power the navigation and communication systems, according to a report by the Ukrainian newspaper Babel.
This is a tactic that is systematically used by a separate unit within the 14th Regiment of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine.
Another example of adaptation: the Ukrainians began using light aircraft with machine guns to intercept Russian drones. The principle is the same as that used by fighter jets during World War II. Now the Russians are trying to adopt this experience of the Ukrainians.
As for more high-tech adaptations, the American media includes the new Russian KAB with a jet engine. According to the deputy head of the GRU Vadim Skibitsky, the combat radius of such bombs is about 200 kilometers. And this is in addition to the already familiar glide bombs without an engine, with only wings – they fly about 80 kilometers and have become one of the biggest problems for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
On the Ukrainian side, the most famous high-tech novelty is the naval drones, which have radically changed the situation at sea.
The authors of the publication note that both countries are trying to increase weapons production, but since in most cases the deployment of production lines is measured in years, "rapid improvisation plays an important role on the battlefield".