F/A-18 Hornets were developed in the US in the 1970s and sold to Australia in the 1980s. Understandably, there is still an aversion to send the most advanced fighter jets such as F-35 or F-22 to former Warsaw Pact countries. Ukraine could go either way after Zelensky, depending the outcome of the war.
Last year, as Ukrainian fighter pilots were desperately trying to avoid being shot down by Russian aircraft equipped with longer-range radars, a senior Ukraine Air Force official told two Australians in Kyiv he wasn’t interested in a donation of 41 retired F/A-18 Hornet fighters.
“We don’t want your flying trash,” he said, according to a person present.
www.afr.com
Last year, as Ukrainian fighter pilots were desperately trying to avoid being shot down by Russian aircraft equipped with longer-range radars, a senior Ukraine Air Force official told two Australians in Kyiv he wasn’t interested in a donation of 41 retired F/A-18 Hornet fighters.
“We don’t want your flying trash,” he said, according to a person present.
Ukraine to Australia: ‘We don’t want your flying trash’
During two years of war, Australia and Ukraine have struggled to get beyond mutual incomprehension.
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