Russia-Ukraine Flash Report for 4-20-22 9:30 PDT - Did Ukraine Get Airplanes? (Patreon)

On April 19, the Press Secretary for the United States Department of Defense John Kirby said Ukraine had received aircraft and parts from unknown parties. His words were carefully chosen and today Ukraine said they only received parts that will enable them to add operational aircraft.

What exactly did John Kirby say on Tuesday?

He fielded several press questions - here is the unedited transcript of his responses to the questions related to aircraft.

Pentagon Press Briefing

Q: One last thing. What I was trying to get at was the Ukrainians are also asking for other things beyond that? I mean, I'm talking about tanks, aircraft. And I know you've talked about this before but are -- are you reconsidering any of those type of things?

MR. KIRBY: It's not about reconsidering, Bob, I mean, they -- they have -- they have received tanks from other nations. I mean, the kinds of tanks that they know how to use are not the tanks that we have in our -- in our inventory. But other nations have provided some -- some tanks.

Some nations have provided spare parts so that they can get their inoperable tanks operable again. And I would say the same on -- on aircraft. I mean, they have received support on -- for -- for -- to -- to get some of their fixed-wing aircraft, you know, more operable again. So I mean, look, the proof’s in the pudding there.

I mean, they right now have available to them more fixed-wing fighter aircraft than they did two weeks ago. And that's not by accident, that's because other nations who have experience with those kinds of aircraft have been able to help them get -- get more aircraft up -- up and running.

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Q: And you said earlier that the Ukrainians have now more fighter aircraft than they had two weeks ago. Can you give us...

MR. KIRBY: More operable fighter aircraft than they had two weeks ago.

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Q: So can you give us an idea of – did they receive more? And an idea of how many? Dozens?

MR. KIRBY: I would just say without getting into what other nations are providing that they have received additional platforms and parts to be able to increase their fleet size -- their aircraft fleet size, I think I'd leave it at that.

Platforms and parts.

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Q: What is a platform?

MR. KIRBY: Platform is an airplane in this case. They have received additional aircraft and aircraft parts to help them, you know, get more aircraft in the air. Yes.

Q: And can you clarify when you when you talked about additional platforms and parts were any of those provided or transported by the United States?

MR. KIRBY: No. I mean we -- I would say we certainly have helped with the -- with the transshipment of some additional spare parts that have helped with their aircraft needs. But we have not transported whole aircraft. Yes.

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What do we know today?

• Ukraine has confirmed they received parts to help get the current inventory operational. We don't know the aircraft, but the possibilities include the Su-24, Su-25, Su-27, and/or Mig-29. It could be Mi-24 attack helicopters if we limit our possibilities to attack aircraft. 
• The United States revealed earlier this month that it has a no longer secret inventory of Soviet-era military hardware. The equipment was purchased through the years (apparently) to keep them off the arms market (that's the narrative).
• You can't provide Ukraine with western fighter aircraft such as the F-16, F-15, A-10, or F-18 because they don't have trained pilots, mechanics, or ground crews. and they don't have parts, ammunition, or ordnance.
• Ukraine has a lot more trained pilots than aircraft right now.

There are unconfirmed reports that Poland and Slovakia provided whole Mig-29s, but that is unverified and Ukraine essentially denied it by omission in their announcement today.

The 800-pound elephant in the room is, what defines parts? Kirby was very clear, the United States assisted in shipping parts, but not the whole aircraft.

If you pull the engines out of a Mig-29 and transport them separately from the Mig-29 they came from, isn't that - technically - shipping and receiving parts?

Manifest - why yes I have it right here - it is 20 Klimov RD-33 jet engines. and a box of spare parts for each of them.

Manifest - why yes I have it here right it is 10 Mig-29 airframes. They don't have engines, canopies, or core cockpit controls, it is just the airframe with some avionics for parts.

Manifest - why yes we've got 10 canopies and cockpit controls for retired Soviet fighter aircraft, ahhh Mig-29. Just more parts to help fix planes.

No one lied and you don't need to wear a tinfoil hat to get to this destination.

The Mig-29 is used as an example. We know that the only viable airframes from former Warsaw Pact nations that could potentially offer aircraft are Su-27 and Mig-29s. We also know that a number of former Warsaw Pact nations do in fact have inoperable aircraft that are only good for parts.

Bulgaria just cut a deal for F-16s and paid an obscene amount of money for them and the related programs - things that make you go hmmm. Romania is an unlikely candidate despite cutting a deal for F-16, as they retired Mig-21 jets as part of the deal. Finally, there is Poland, which has been more than willing to provide entire aircraft, just as long as it couldn't be directly traced back to Poland.

Kirby appears to have let slip, that entire "platforms" were sent. In our debate, we've concluded that "platform" could mean fighter planes, helicopters, or drones. It is very evident that Ukraine has lost a number of TB-2 drones due to the lack of videos showing field success, and Russia getting a bit more serious about providing air cover to their supply lines.

We'll put this one under "fog of war" and "need to know basis." Clearly, the general public does not need to know.