https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/ukraine-seeking-fighter-jets-instead-of-us-provided-drones
Ukraine seeking fighter jets instead of US-provided drones
The US had provided Ukraine with Gray Eagle combat drones, however, Kiev is seeking to receive fighter jets such as the F-15 and F-16 instead of them. Ukrainian officials argue that the fighter jets have a better chance against Russian air defenses.
According to Foreign Policy, a Ukrainian pilot said that “It’s very dangerous to use such expensive drones in our case, because of the enemy’s air defense,” adding that “It’s not Afghanistan here.”
UK officials have been divided over the efficiency of US-provided combat drones. On the other hand, retired US officers, such as Max Boot, have firmly advocated for the delivery of Gray Eagles to Ukraine. They even argued that these weapons could be a “game-changer” in a conflict zone.
Another Ukrainian fighter pilot said that the Gray Eagles “could be useful” on the frontline. Nonetheless, they would probably not survive more than one or two missions which is a small number of missions compared to the cost of each drone which is about $10 million.
While there is an ongoing debate regarding the weapons, Reuters had reported that the US had put the delivery of four such drones to Kiev “on hold” out of fear that they might end up in Russian hands.
Read more: US sends $450 million worth of weapons to Ukraine
Previously, Ukraine has been able to efficiently use the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 strike drones turning them it a significant part of their arsenal said the fighter pilot. However, that was the case in the early stages of the war but now the Russian air defense would strike them down much faster. A fighter jet would be so much more efficient in the ongoing war.
A debt-ridden war
Earlier this week, Ukraine received a delivery of precision artillery from the US. The weapons came in response to Kiev’s plea to the allies to support its military with advanced artillery in the war with Russia.
Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov stated via his Twitter account that the "HIMARS have arrived in Ukraine,” adding, “Thank you to my colleague and friend Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III for these powerful tools! Summer will be hot for Russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them.”
On the US end, Senator Paul Rand has been arguing since May that the US might be investing too much in Ukraine.
Paul argued that the US is funding Ukraine's war with borrowed money, which would add to the US' $30 trillion debt, exacerbating the its crippling inflation crisis.
“Americans are feeling the pain, and Congress seems intent on only adding to that pain by shoving more money out the door as fast as they can,” Paul said.
Washington, according to Paul, is still trying to recover from the $1.6 trillion spent on wars in the Middle East, in addition to the $5 trillion spent on the Covid-19 response.
“We should not forget that the Soviet Union collapsed in large part not because it was defeated militarily, but because it ran out of money,” he said. “In an attempt to save Ukraine, will we doom the US to such a future?”
On June 11th, and according to AAA's reading, a gallon of ordinary petrol costs $5 on average throughout the US for the first time. Gas prices have been gradually climbing since April, and this current milestone represents the 15th consecutive day that the AAA gauge has reached a new high, and the 32nd time in the last 33 days.