Against the backdrop of U.S. preparations to supply new arms and ammunition deals to Ukraine as part of aid in the war against the Russians, one of the Ukrainian pilots in statements to an American newspaper criticized the poor performance of weapons sent to Ukraine, especially anti-aircraft missiles, noting the quality of weapons provided by Europeans and the Americans, that the weapons will not really change the reality, especially in light of Russia's advanced aircraft.
The Washington Post quoted a Ukrainian pilot "Joyce" as saying: The big difference in air equipment between Ukraine and Russia is very clear. In fact, every day we have casualties among the air and ground forces, and that Ukrainian pilots have outdated planes hunted like mail pigeons by Russian planes.
He added that in order to deal with the Russians we must be technically equal, that our mental capabilities alone are not enough to fight with our old technologies, and that weapons must be reconsidered to Ukraine, their quality and effectiveness in stopping the lethal killing of Russian weapons.
So we shot down some Russian planes
According to the pilot, the downing process of some Russian fighter jets was done by trickery, the Ukrainian pilots maneuvered in front of the Russian planes and dragged them to an area where we surprised them from the ground with our air defense systems, noting that the matter was repeated several times and many fighter jets were shot down in this way.
He continued, "Despite the great risks, we managed to achieve the biggest surprise in this war, as we maintained airspace over Ukraine despite the many and most advanced Russian aircraft, but it will not suffice, even though we inflicted many defeats on the ground, but they were more deadly from the sky. "
Stinger missiles are defective
Another pilot named Nomad criticized the performance of the Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and their poor efficiency against Russian fighter jets, saying: It is almost impossible to hit a Russian plane flying fast with Stinger missiles, such missiles are not intended to shoot down fighter jets, but are intended for use against helicopters and other aircraft such as slow-moving, low-altitude aircraft.
He noted that if Western countries are reluctant to give Ukraine modern aircraft that their pilots have not trained on, they should at least consider sending more advanced air defense systems, as learning how to operate them is much easier than dealing with a fighter jet with a Stinger missile.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced in a telephone conversation last Wednesday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, that a large amount of equipment coming from existing U.S. military inventory had been sent to Kiev, including artillery, armored vehicles, radars, anti-tank missiles, UAVs and coastguard ships without crews.
He also explained that the new aid package would include highly efficient equipment, some of which had been delivered earlier, in addition to new capabilities including artillery systems and armored vehicles, noting that he had also given his approval to send more helicopters, the White House reported.