F-16s will ‘eventually’ be sent to Ukraine, former U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chair says

A former top US military official said he expected Western countries to offer fighter jets to Ukraine, fulfilling one of the country’s most pressing demands.

“I think the F-16 will be delivered, it’s hard to know exactly when but I think it will come,” said Mike Mullen, a retired admiral and former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, in an interview that aired Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live.

Mullen told guest host David Common that sending fighter jets to Ukraine could make a “significant difference” in the war, and that Ukraine’s top area of ​​vulnerability is air defense. In recent days, Russia has renewed missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.

The attack had “one goal, to destroy life and spare no humanity,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week.

Two Ukrainian pilots are currently training in the United States on an F-16 flight simulator, US media reported last week.

Mullen gave credit to American leaders and other Western countries for bolstering Ukraine’s ground-based defenses, with new artillery and tanks – including the Leopard 2 main battle tank provided by Canada. He said Ukraine has the potential to have a “devastating effect on any ground attack by Russia.”

The war in Ukraine has been stuck in a grinding stalemate in the winter, but Western countries are working to once again forfynt Ukraine with weapons and ammunition ahead of the expected Russian attack in the spring.

Twenty-five Canadian soldiers are currently in western Poland training Ukrainian soldiers to use advanced tanks, as part of Operation UNIFIER, Canada’s mission to train members of the Ukrainian military. The mission is part of Canada’s broader efforts to support Ukraine, which includes more than $1 billion in military aid.

Lt.-Col. Chris Boileau, the current task force commander of Operation UNIFIER, said in an interview Sunday Rosemary Barton Live that the first cadre of Ukrainian soldiers had just graduated from training and returned to the front lines.

Leopards ‘night and day’ with Ukrainian tanks

Boileau notes that the biggest challenge in Ukrainian tanker training is the difference between the old Soviet technology and the newer Leopard 2s.

“Top speed, firepower, armor package and overall capability, easily, night and day,” Boileau told General.

“So being able to take an experienced tanker and then move to a more complex and deep technology is a challenge,” he said.

Boileau noted that Operation UNIFIER has grown significantly since taking command, with training forces doubling in the past six months. He also said that “education has happened in two ways” as the Canadians imparted some skills in urban warfare, but also learned from the experience of their Ukrainian counterparts.

For example, Boileau said, Canadians are hearing about operations with “pervasive drone threats,” which Canada has no experience with.

Efforts to maintain pro-Ukrainian unity

There are some concerns that resolve in Western countries may be weakened, with elements of some opposition parties, including the Republican representative in the United States, asking for help for Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden recently traveled to Ukraine and Poland to reaffirm his government’s support, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen undertook a similar tour of North America this week, including an address to Parliament in the House of Commons.

In Canada, Green co-leader Jonathan Pedneault returned some recent comments on the idea that Ukraine could use weapons from the West to push beyond its own borders.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party supports helping stop the Russian invasion, though he noted Canada needs to get “results for our money.”

“The problem with this government is not that it doesn’t spend enough, it’s that it doesn’t get enough results for the spending it does. It spends too much money on back-office bureaucracy and not enough on front-line military equipment.”