Poland to Hand over First 4 MiG-29 Aircraft to Ukraine, Possibly Armed with American Weapons

Poland plans to hand over first 4 of the promised MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine in the coming days, Andrzej Duda, President of Poland, announced this during a press conference.

While he did not comment on the type of weapons these aircraft would carry, it has been earlier reported that the MiG-29s will likely be equipped with American-made AIM-120C AMRAAM missiles and air-to-ground precision weapons.

Reports said that Ukrainian pilots have been trained in how to launch U.S. weapons from the Russian-origin MiG-29 jets.

Duda said the remainder of the aircraft are currently undergoing maintenance. “We can safely state that we are sending MiGs to Ukraine. We have more than ten of these in stock,” the President of Poland said in his speech.

The exact number of Polish jets aircraft ready to be transferred has not been announced, but it is reported that the Air Force has 26 MiG-29s in various states of readiness.

The transferred aircraft are to be replaced by newly delivered FA-50 fighters from South Korea, the first of which are expected to arrive at the end of the year. Later, Poland will also have squadrons of F-35 combat aircraft.