President Zelenskyy of Ukraine has asked the UK to provide combat fighter aircraft to Ukrainian forces. The UK has so far agreed to train Ukrainian fighter jet pilots.

This Insight looks at what combat aircraft the UK has and issues with training military pilots.

What did President Zelenskyy say?

Addressing members of both Houses of Parliament on 8 February, President Zelenskyy gifted the Speaker of the House of Commons a helmet of a Ukrainian pilot inscribed with the words “We have freedom. Give us wings to protect it.”

He repeated his call for combat aircraft, and called on the UK to provide Ukraine with fighter jets:

I appeal to you and the world with simple and yet most important words: Combat aircrafts – for Ukraine! Wings – for freedom!

What was the UK Government’s response?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the UK will expand its existing training programme for Ukrainian armed forces personnel and will “train their pilots in advanced combat aircraft.” The Prime Minister also said “nothing is off the table” and that fighter combat aircraft “are part of the conversation” he has had with the President.

Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, has also said “on the question of jets, one thing I’ve learned over the last year is don’t rule anything in, don’t rule anything out”.

However, the Government has previously suggested it is “not practical” to provide Ukraine with British combat aircraft because of the length of time it takes to train pilots to fly them, and the number of people required to support the aircraft. The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said the UK fast jet training programme takes five years.

The head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Wigston, told MPs on 1 February that the RAF is “already providing a significant amount of support” in terms of air power to Ukraine”.

What are combat aircraft?

Combat aircraft are primarily designed for engaging enemy aircraft in air-to-air battles or providing close-air support to ground forces with ground-attack weapons. Multirole aircraft can perform both functions.

What combat aircraft does the UK have?

The UK has two fleets of fast jet combat aircraft: Typhoon and the F-35 Lightning.

Typhoon has been in service with the RAF since the early 2000s and was developed initially for air defence. Its primary role is to defend UK airspace by intercepting and identifying unauthorised aircraft approaching UK airspace. The head of the RAF says Typhoon is a “phenomenally effective aircraft.”

The Typhoon fleet was bought in three tranches. As of June 2022 there are 137 Typhoons either in service or storage with the RAF:

  • 30 tranche 1 aircraft (20 in service and 10 in storage)
  • 67 tranche 2 aircraft
  • 40 tranche 3 aircraft

Newer Typhoon aircraft are being upgraded with a new radar and air-to-ground missiles to expand the type of operation it can undertake.

The new F-35 Lightning II is a multi-role fighter aircraft with stealthy characteristics. It is designed to operate undetected in hostile airspace. It operates from the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers and from land. The UK currently has 29 aircraft, with more on order from the United States. It is expected to remain in service for decades to come.

The last of the RAF’s specialist ground attack aircraft, the Tornado GR4, retired in 2019.

Can the UK send older Typhoon aircraft to Ukraine?

Several MPs have suggested gifting tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft to Ukraine.

Tranche 1 Typhoons are currently planned to go out of service in March 2025.  The Ministry of Defence says withdrawing the aircraft “enables the reinvestment required” to keep the rest of the Typhoon fleet flying until tranches 2 and 3 retire in 2040.

Justin Bronk says that while at first glance it might be appealing, there are significant practical limitations with donating tranche 1 aircraft. He says Typhoon aircraft are not optimised for the low-level flying likely required in Ukraine, as they have limited abilities in attacking ground targets from the air.

Typhoon is also not designed for short-field landings on rough surfaces, meaning they would need a relatively smooth runway and require considerable maintenance and support, meaning any base could become an easy target for Russian missiles.

An example of a better suited aircraft to the Ukrainian conflict is the Swedish Gripen C, according to Bronk. It is easy to maintain and operate from dispersed bases on short airstrips.

Typhoon aircraft are also in high demand. As well as protecting UK and Falkland Islands airspace, they also support Operation Shader in Iraq and Syria and support NATO patrols on its eastern flank and over the Baltic states. Justin Bronk says the Typhoon force is “completely overstretched and worn out”, with a shortage of spare parts already affecting aircraft availability.

What are the issues with training pilots?

The offer to train Ukrainian pilots has drawn attention to long-standing issues with fighter jet pilots in the UK.

In 2019, the National Audit Office found students taking longer than expected to complete training; fast-jet pilots took an average of 7.1 years to be trained rather than the Ministry of Defence’s optimum time of 3.9 years.

When he first became Defence Secretary in 2019, Ben Wallace told the Chief of the Air Staff his number one priority was to improve the fighter jet training pipeline: “there is no point in buying planes if there is no one to fly them. It is incredibly important that we get those pilots.”

The Defence Committee raised this with the Chief of the RAF in February 2023. Air Chief Marshall Wigston said the RAF is working to fix the existing logjam, with fast-jet flying training now at five years rather than seven, adding “by this time next year it will be four years.”

It is not yet clear what form the training programme for Ukrainian pilots will take or how it will fit in with the existing training programme for the Ukrainian armed forces, Operation Interflex.

About the author: Louisa Brooke-Holland is a researcher at the House of Commons Library specialising in defence.

Photo by UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor

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