Dusseldorf, Berlin, Warsaw Germany authorizes Poland to transfer Mig-29 fighter jets originally from German stocks to Ukraine. The corresponding application was received on Thursday, said Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD). “I welcome the fact that we in the federal government have reached this decision together. That shows: you can rely on Germany.”
Now it’s about machines of the National People’s Army of the GDR, which were taken over by the Federal Republic after reunification and were still in service with the Bundeswehr for a while. By 2004, Germany had sold 23 of the jets to Poland. The federal government must agree to a transfer to third countries.
Russia has so far failed to gain air superiority in Ukraine, allowing Ukrainian warplanes to operate there. They do this partly from country roads because airfields are an easy target for long-range Russian weapons.
The Polish government wants to modernize its own air force and offered at an early stage to hand over Soviet-era Mig-29s to the Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Defense Minister Pistorius have so far ruled out their own delivery of German combat aircraft.
Memories of the main battle tank debate are awakened
On March 28, the head of Poland’s national security office, Jacek Siewiera, met with Scholz’ foreign policy adviser Jens Plötner in Berlin. After the meeting, Siewiera told journalists that Poland will not initially supply Mig-29s from ex-military stocks.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) said on the sidelines of his Africa visit that a decision on the application is expected to be made on Thursday.
(Photo: AP)
This constellation is reminiscent of the debate about the delivery of main battle tanks to Ukraine. Here, too, Poland had demanded at an early stage that the Ukraine be given Leopard 2 tanks and even threatened to pass on specimens bought from Germany if necessary, even without the necessary export license.
In January, Germany then decided not only to allow Poland and other countries to transfer them, but also to hand over 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine itself. The number was later increased to 18 copies, which are now in use in the war zone.
At the moment, however, it is not to be expected that the pressure on Germany will increase to deliver combat aircraft itself. The Eurofighters and the Tornados, which the Air Force has at its disposal, are not on the Ukrainian military’s wish list, at least not yet.
And while Ukrainian pilots would need training on the western jets, they are familiar with the Mig-29s. If necessary, delivered aircraft can also serve as a spare parts store for machines of the Ukrainian Air Force. In addition, Western-made jets would also need the right infrastructure on the ground, which would first have to be set up.
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Nevertheless, there are also voices calling for the training of Ukrainian pilots to begin early on, including on Western-made jets such as the F-16. Both Poland and the Netherlands, which have such machines, have not ruled out giving a few copies to Ukraine. The U.S. House of Representatives approved $100 million to fund F-16 training for Ukrainian pilots in July 2022.
The “replenishment” of jets from the Soviet era is slowly running out
However, the debate about supplying Western jets as well will probably pick up speed in the foreseeable future because it will become more difficult to continue supplying the Ukraine with aircraft that date back to the Soviet era. Poland is the NATO country that is said to have the largest stock of Mig-29s. The jet was long the standard fighter of the Warsaw Pact countries.
According to the annual report “Military Balance 2023” by the British International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the country still has two squadrons of fighter jets of this type. Specifically, there are 22 single-seater MiG-29A Fulcrum and six two-seater MiG 29UB, which are used for training purposes.
In addition, according to the IISS, in the group of NATO countries, Slovakia and Bulgaria still have Mig-29 fighter jets. Bulgaria wants to discard the aging aircraft as quickly as possible and is said to have made efforts last year to temporarily replace its own machines with Mig-29s from Poland until the ordered American F-16s are available in 2025.
Slovakia has nine of the single-seat Mig-29A plus two training aircraft in its inventory. Outside of NATO, a number of other countries have Mig-29A fighter jets. However, Ukraine has not yet received any weapon systems from most of these countries. According to Military Balance, the list of owner countries includes Azerbaijan, Serbia, India, Egypt and Iran.
FDP defense expert Marcus Faber said approving the Mig-29 transfer was only a first step. “Now it is time to examine further German contributions to strengthening the Ukrainian air force. This can be, for example, the training of Ukrainian pilots or the delivery of Western aircraft types.”
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