The “coalition of the willing” discussed sending British Typhoons to Ukraine to provide air cover for troops when it met at Permanent Joint Headquarters on Thursday.
According to The Telegraph, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has already pledged to put British troops on the ground if Donald Trump successfully negotiates a peace deal with Vladimir Putin.
A senior RAF source said that British air cover would have been discussed at the meeting because in the event UK soldiers go into Ukraine, “there will be a requirement for top cover.”
The RAF would provide either Typhoons or F-35s as both provide “excellent air-to-air policing.”
Starmer said on Thursday that military planning for the coalition of the willing has been broken down into sea, air, land and borders, and the regeneration of Ukraine.
He said: “The political momentum that we’ve built up… is being translated here into military planning and operational planning, and broadly broken out into different areas. So we’re looking at the sea in one scenario, the sky, obviously land and borders, and regeneration.”
While all nations across Europe have the ability to send fighter jets, only the U.S. and France can send airborne early warning and control aircraft that provide critical surveillance, including detection of missiles.
However, the RAF source said “the British Army and RAF will be part of the first vanguard into Ukraine.”
“The Brits will likely be one of the first nations to commit because everyone follows the Brits,” he said.
A number of nations would be involved in sending air cover at any one time, which would be operated on a rotational basis, the source added.
A No10 source stressed that nothing had been committed or confirmed in terms of air cover.
A defense source said that discussions on Thursday would have also included what any air cover looked like, which nations could provide the aircraft, to where they would be based and refueled.
Photo: news.sky.com
Source: UK discussing deployment of Typhoon fighter jets to Ukraine – The Telegraph
