DEFENCE Secretary Ben Wallace has said that Ukraine will not be receiving fighter jets in the foreseeable future.
He told GB News: “I don’t think in the short term you’re going to see jets supplied.
“You’ve got the complexity and a fighter jet doesn’t just come on its own. It comes with, effectively, a massive pit crew of about 200 people.
“That’s engineers and systems analysts and technicians, they all come along with it. Britain is not putting troops into Ukraine and so that causes a problem in the first place.
“Secondly, how do you fight and use an aircraft? It’s not just about can you fly it, it’s about how you weave it into your air defences and electronic warfare and all sorts of other layers that you need to make it effective.”
In an interview during Breakfast with Stephen Dixon and Ellie Costello, he said: “What is correct is for the long term plans for Ukraine is building that resilience where they can have time to develop those capabilities.
“We will help now start training them in the use of those planes. But I don’t think you’re going to see in the medium or short term a whole load of British planes just delivered into Ukraine.
“What we can do and we’ve already been doing it is dealing with the effects you want the planes to deliver.
“We just simply can’t hand over western jets and expect them to be used in the short term.”
Asked if Putin’s intentions are hard to read, he said: “President Putin seems to be pretty much running the country on his own with a few very close buddies who will think the same, and that makes it definitely a challenge.
“He’s also a man who doesn’t seem to care about the outcome of his troops, when you have sacrificed 180,000, or actually more now we think, of your own troops on this illegal invasion.
“It’s quite hard to work out how far he has to go before he actually realises he doesn’t have much of an army left, and indeed his own population are starting to really suffer.
“That’s why we should be grateful we’re a member of NATO, an alliance of 30 countries.”
Asked about Labour’s defence plans, Mr Wallace said: “Well, we’re all looking forward to Labour’s actual answers to the question, what are you going to do and where’s the money coming from?
“John Healey made an announcement about troop numbers the other day but no money was attached.
“The Chancellor and the Prime Minister…gave me an extra £560 million to refurbish our ammunition stocks back in autumn.
“I’m confident we’re on the mend. We’ve already received some new ammunition for our stockpiles and we’ll continue to do so.”
