F-35B Lightning II
The hypothetical purchase by Ukraine of the fifth generation F-35 Lightning II fighters produced by the American company Lockheed Martin “can only be welcomed,” writes military observer Anton Lavrov in Izvestia.
According to the observer, these aircraft “would become for a poor state the classic” white elephants “of military affairs – a weapon that is extremely expensive to maintain, but it is a pity or impossible to use it for its intended purpose.” “Therefore, the sale of such equipment to Ukraine could only be welcomed. It's even a pity that it is unrealistic for financial reasons, ”the author writes.
Lavrov recalls that, in addition to the high cost of the aircraft itself and its operation, the fighter needs expensive weapons, for the acquisition of which even the richer than Ukraine states, such as Poland and Great Britain, have limited funds.
Lavrov notes that “with the share of the defense budget [of Ukraine] at six percent of GDP (gross domestic product – approx. Lenta.ru ), about 40 billion hryvnias were allocated for all purchases, repairs and modernization of weapons and equipment – less than 1.5 billion dollars “. “At best, this is enough for the purchase of an F-35 squadron – with a complete halt to the rest of the programs for equipping a 250,000-strong army,” the expert assures.
Thus, Lavrov commented on the plans of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, presented in March, suggesting a desire to acquire the F-35 Lightning II at an unnamed date.
In March, General Richard Dannath, who headed the General Staff of the British Armed Forces (AF) in 2006-2009, announced that the fifth-generation F-35B Lightning II short takeoff and vertical landing fighter was devastating the country's Defense Ministry.
In January, Christopher Miller, acting US Secretary of Defense, called the F-35 Lightning II program a piece of crap.
