The Ukrainian Air Force (, PS ZSU) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the eight branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its current form was created in 2004 by merging the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces into the Air Force. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, many aircraft were left in Ukrainian territory. After Ukrainian independence in 1991, the air force suffered from chronic under-investment, leading to the bulk of its inventory becoming mothballed or otherwise inoperable. However its domestic defense industry Ukroboronprom and its Antonov subsidiary are able to maintain its older aircraft. The Ukrainian Air Force participated in the war in Donbas. Following the 2014 ceasefire, the air force was suspended from carrying out missions in the areas of Donbas. Since February 2022, the Air Force has been engaged in constant combat operations in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The air force flies F-16 multirole jetfighters and Soviet-made aircraft.

Missions

The role of the Air Force is to protect the air space of Ukraine. The objectives are: obtaining operational air superiority, delivering air strikes against enemy units and facilities, covering troops against enemy air strikes, providing air support to the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Marine Corps and the Navy in wartime operations and peacetime exercises, disrupting enemy military movements on the ground, air and sea, disrupting enemy communications, and providing air support by reconnaissance, airdrops, and troop and cargo transportation in both peace and war, in support of the Armed Forces, other uniformed forces, and wider mandates of the Government of Ukraine. In peace-time, this is carried out by flying air-space control missions over the entire territory of Ukraine (603,700 square km), and by preventing air space intrusion along the aerial borders (totaling almost 7,000 km, including 5,600 km of land and 1,400 km of sea). Over 2,200 service personnel and civilian employees of the Air Force, employing 400 items of weapons and equipment, are summoned daily to perform defense duties. On average, the Ukrainian radar forces detect and track more than 1,000 targets daily. As a result, in 2006 two illegal crossings of the state border were prevented and 28 violations of Ukrainian air space were prevented. Due to such increased strengthening of air space control, the number of air space violations decreased by 35% compared to the previous year, even though the amount of air traffic increased by 30%.

History

1917–1945

Ukrainian military aviation started with the winter 1917 creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic Air Fleet, headed by former commander of the Kyiv Military District Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Pavlenko. Previously, while in Russian service in World War I, Pavlenko was in charge of air security of the Russian Stavka. Sometime in 1918 the West Ukrainian People's Republic created its own aviation corps with the Ukrainian Galician Army headed by Petro Franko, a son of renowned Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko. In 1918 he organized an aviation school of the Ukrainian Galician Army Command Center which was active until 1920. The airplanes used by Ukraine in this period included Belgium-built SPAD S.VIIs. The Ukrainian Galician Army used Nieuport 17 biplanes. At the beginning of 1918, 188 aircraft of 26 models were listed in Ukrainian registers. During World War II, Ukrainian pilots took part in combat operations as part of the Soviet Air Force. Among these pilots, Ivan Kozhedub is notable for being the highest-scoring Allied ace with over 60 credited solo victories.

Collapse of the USSR

Air Forces

On the basis of the ex-Soviet Air Forces formations in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force, as a service branch of the young Armed Forces, was established on 17 March 1992, in accordance with a Directive of the Chief of the General Staff of the AFU. The headquarters of the 24th Air Army of the Soviet Air Force in Vinnytsia served as the basis to create the Air Force headquarters. Also present on Ukrainian soil were units of the former Soviet 5th, 14th, and 17th Air Armies, plus five regiments (185th, 251st, 260th, 341st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiments and 199th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment) of the 46th Air Army, Long Range Aviation. In addition, the 161st Maritime Fighter Aviation Regiment, at Limanske in Odesa Oblast, came under the supervision of the AFU. It had formerly been part of the 119th Maritime Fighter Aviation Division of the Black Sea Fleet (Soviet Navy). The new Air Force inherited the 184th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (201st Heavy Bomber Aviation Division) of Tupolev Tu-160 'Blackjack' which were based at Pryluky. Discussions with Russia concerning their return bogged down. The main bone of contention was the price. While Russian experts, who examined the aircraft at Pryluky in 1993 and 1996, assessed their technical condition as good, the price of $3 billion demanded by Ukraine was unacceptable. The negotiations led nowhere and in April 1998, Ukraine decided to commence scrapping the aircraft under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Agreement. In November, the first Tu-160 was ostentatiously chopped up at Pryluky. In April 1999, immediately after NATO began air attacks against Serbia, Russia resumed talks with Ukraine about the strategic bombers. This time they proposed buying back eight Tu-160s and three Tu-95MS models manufactured in 1991 (those in the best technical condition), as well as 575 Kh-55MS missiles. An agreement was eventually reached and a contract valued at $285 million was signed. That figure was to be deducted from Ukraine's debt for natural gas. A group of Russian military experts went to Ukraine on 20 October 1999 to prepare the aircraft for the trip to Engels-2 air base. Between November 1999 and February 2001 the aircraft were transferred to Engels. One Tu-160 remains on display in Poltava. Ukraine also had Tupolev Tu-22s, Tupolev Tu-22Ms and Tupolev Tu-95s for a period after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The 106th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, part of the 37th Air Army, operated some of them. However, these have all been scrapped, apart from a handful displayed in museums. TU-16 and TU-22M bombers were among the aircraft destroyed under the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. By 1995, the IISS Military Balance 1995/96 listed no Tu-22 Blinders in service, though a listing for one division HQ and two regiments of Tu-22M Backfires remained in the Military Balance from 1995/96 to 2000/01. From 24 January 1992, after the collapse of the USSR, 28th Air Defense Corps, previously subordinate to 2nd Air Defence Army was transferred under the 8th Air Defence Army of Ukraine. Units stationed in Moldova were transferred to the Moldovan Armed Forces (275th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade, battalions and companies from the 14th Radio-Technical Brigade). There were about 67,000 air defense troops in 1992. The headquarters of the Ukrainian Air Defence Forces was formed on the basis of HQ 8th Air Defence Army. There were also three air defence corps: the 28th (Lviv), 49th (Odesa), and 60th (Dnipropetrovsk). Holm reports that all three air defence corps were taken over by Ukraine on 1 February 1992, and that the 28th ADC became the Western AD Region on 1 June 1992. The first issue of the Military Balance after the Soviet collapse, 1992–93, listed one Air Defence army, 270 combat aircraft, and seven regiments of Su-15s (80), MiG-23s (110) and MiG-25s (80). By March 1994 Air Forces Monthly reported three air defence regions: the Southern with the 62nd and 737th Fighter Aviation Regiments, the Western with the 92nd (transferred from 14th Air Army and based at Mukachevo), 179th, and 894th Fighter Aviation Regiments (from 28th AD Corps/2nd Air Defence Army), and the Central with the 146th (Vasilkov), 636th (Kramatorsk, seemingly disbanded 1996 and its Su-15s broken up for scrap), and 933rd Fighter Aviation Regiments. The Military Balance 95/96 said that six fighter regiments had been disbanded. In March 1994 the 14th Air Army became the 14th Air Corps, and on 18 March 1994 the 5th Air Army was redesignated the 5th Air Corps. The two air corps remained active in 1996: the 14th in the Carpathian MD and the 5th in the Odesa MD, which by that time incorporated the former Kyiv MD area. The long-range bomber division at Poltava was still operational, reporting directly to Air Force headquarters. This division headquarters was probably the 13th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.

Air Defence Forces

In 1992 the newly independent Ukrainian State took over control over the three Air Defence corps stationed in Ukraine and retained the Air Defence Forces of Ukraine as a separate armed service, equal in status to the Ground Forces, Air Forces and the Navy. The 28th Corps was transferred to the now-Ukrainian 8th Separate Army of Air Defence.

1991–2014

After Ukrainian independence in 1991 the Air Force suffered from chronic under-investment, leading to the bulk of its inventory becoming mothballed or otherwise becoming inoperable. The An-24 and An-26 aircraft, as well as the S-300 and Buk M1 anti-aircraft systems, were continually modernized, and their service life was extended. An organizational basis and technological means for modernizing MiG-29, Su-24, Su-25, Su-27, L-39 was produced. Given sufficient funding from the Verkhovna Rada, the Defense Industrial Complex of Ukraine, in cooperation with foreign companies and manufacturers, is capable of fully renewing the aircraft arsenal of the Ukrainian armed forces. In 2005, the UAF was planning to restructure in an effort to improve efficiency. Ukraine was planning to put more advanced jet aircraft into service. Possibly buying newer SU-27s and MiG-29s from Russia. The plans were, that from approximately 2012, Ukraine would have to either take bold steps to create a new combat aircraft or purchase many existing combat aircraft. Due to the lack of funding, technical modernization was continually postponed. The Ukrainian air force continued to use armament and military equipment which functioned mainly thanks to so-called ‘cannibalization’ (obtaining spare parts from other units), thus gradually depleting their total capabilities. Faced with the threat of losing military capability, initiating the process of technical modernization became a necessity. In 2011 the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated that Ukraine's Air Force included one Sukhoi Su-24M regiment, 5 regiments with Mikoyan MiG-29s and Sukhoi Su-27, one regiment with Sukhoi Su-25, two squadrons with Sukhoi Su-24MR, three transport regiments, some support helicopter squadrons, one helicopter training regiment, and some air training squadrons with L-39 Albatros. The IISS said they were grouped into the 5th and 14th Aviation Corps, the 35th Aviation Group, which is a multi-role rapid reaction formation, and a training aviation command. The IISS assessed the overall force size as 817 aircraft of all types and 43,100 personnel. Collection, processing and transmission of radio information was automated as part of the Automated Command and Control System for aviation and air defense. Operational service testing of the circular surveillance radar station was also completed. Prototypes of high-precision weapons systems, electronic warfare devices, and navigation equipment were created and developed for state testing.

Role in the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Following the Revolution of Dignity and subsequent March 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and the following violence and insurgency in east Ukraine, Ukraine tried to increase its defence spending and capabilities - with returning equipment to service being a key part of the spending drive. During the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea the air force did not fight but lost several aircraft to Russia; most were returned to Ukraine. The air force took part in the conflict against the 2014 insurgency in Donbas. During this conflict it lost several planes and helicopters. The US embassy in Kyiv reported that Ukraine lost 19 planes and helicopters between 22 April - 22 July 2014. According to an unverified October 2015 report by Swiss technology company RUAG the Air Force had lost nearly half of its (combat) aircraft (since early 2014). RUAG believed that 222 of the Air Force's 400 aircraft had been lost. Since 12 July 2014 the Ukrainian Air Force has been put on full combat alert. Around this date the Air Forces started restoring its former military airfields in Voznesensk (Mykolaiv Oblast), and Velykyi Buialyk and Artsyz (both in Odesa Oblast). Ukraine inherited a large inventory of aircraft from the Soviet Union, these were mostly decommissioned and stored as the nation had little use or funding to keep a large fleet active. In 2014, the air force announced that it would be bringing back 68 aircraft that had been in reserve since the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the Tupolev Tu-141 reconnaissance drone. In April 2014 two MiG-29 aircraft were restored. In August a decommissioned An-26 transport aircraft was also restored to active service by a volunteer group. In January 2015 the air force received another 4 newly restored airplanes, two MiG-29s and two Su-27s, as well as two Mi-8 and Mi-2 helicopters. As a result of the war in Donbas the government of Ukraine realized the importance of drone surveillance in locating enemy troops, and recommissioned 68 Soviet era Tu-141 drones to be repaired. Analysts pointed out that despite being designed in 1979 the Tu-141 has a powerful camera, it likely uses similar airborne radar and infrared sensor as the Soviet-era Su-24 which would make it prone to jamming by Russian forces as they use the same equipment. A crowd funding project for a "people's drone" aimed to purchase an American or Israeli drone. However, Ukrainian designers and engineers were able to build their own model based on the commercially available DJI Phantom 2 drone. In October 2014, students from Ivano-Frankivsk designed their own drone to be used in the war in Donbas. The drone could broadcast live pictures, unlike the Tu-141 which relies on film that must be recovered. The drone was built from off the shelf components and funded by volunteers. The drone was also stated to have an operational ceiling of 7,000 meters, a range of 25 kilometers, and cost about US$4,000 to build. In 2015, Ukroboronprom received a ₴2.5 million (approximately $2.77 million, that year) order to refit several Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunships, part of which included fitting them with night vision capabilities. The Mi-24 proved to be highly vulnerable to Russian separatist attacks during the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. With the exception of captured aircraft in Crimean airbases the Mi-24 had the highest loss rate of all aircraft in Ukraine's inventory, with 5 being shot down and 4 damaged during the conflict.

Developments towards restoration

Starting in 1993 the United States National Guard worked with the Ukrainian Air Force as part of a NATO sponsored program. The Ukrainian Air Force worked with the California Air National Guard's 144th Fighter Wing and pilots exercised together, including in 2011 and 2018. In 2014, various aircraft were repaired and transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force. On 5 August 2014 an order No. 499 was issued allocating finances to modernize all Su-27 to the Su-27B1M, Su-27P1M, Su-27S1M, and on 3 October 2014 Kanatovo Air Base in the Kirovograd Oblast was brought back to life. There were plans to begin licensed production of the Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter in Lviv. However, these plans have stalled since 2014. As of August 2023, according to Forbes, Ukraine lost 69 aircraft since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, but they have been receiving equipment and funding from other countries.

Role in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

On Thursday, 24 February 2022, the Air Force began to respond to the advance of Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft and materiel towards Ukrainian skies as part of the country's invasion by the Russian Armed Forces. The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that over 100 air defence systems and over 90 aircraft had been disabled or destroyed by 6 March 2022, which has not been confirmed by independent sources. No official figures from the Ukrainian Defence Ministry were immediately available. According to US defense officials, UKAF still had 56 operational fighter jets as of 11 March 2022. In April 2022, an unspecified country offered parts to help Ukraine restore 20 aircraft to operational usage, a US defence official claimed. On 19 September, US Air Force General James B. Hecker said that Ukrainian air defences had shot down 55 Russian warplanes since the start of the invasion. He credited this success to the Ukrainian use of SA-11 and SA-10 air defence systems. As the US doesn't have these systems getting new missiles from European allies was a "big ask" from Kyiv. Russian airplanes increased their operations due to the 2022 Ukrainian Kharkiv Oblast counteroffensive. The tally went to 55 after the UK MoD stated that it believed that some 4 Russian jets had been downed by Ukraine over the previous 10 days. This was due to a number of factors including changing front lines, or the fact that they were under pressure to provide closer ground support. He further claimed that the Ukrainian Air Force was at about 80% of its pre-invasion strength after 7 months of combat. In May 2023 the BBC interviewed several Ukrainian Air Force pilots. Even with MiG-29s supplied from Slovakia and Poland these are still old, with the same Soviet era equipment and radars as their own Ukrainian aircraft. When long range radar guided missiles, such as the R-37M, are fired by Russian aircraft Ukrainian pilots have to rely on ground radar to warn them verbally. Once a launch is detected pilots must abandon their mission and fly extremely low. Another pilot said that his radar cannot see cruise missiles, so they can't be shot down. Most of the pilots fly extremely low during attack missions. When they are in action they use Soviet era unguided bombs and rockets. Due to these limitations one pilot estimates that "they (Ukrainian pilots) carry out up to 20 times fewer sorties than the Russian Air Force." As of 4 August 2023, according to Forbes the Ukrainian Air Force lost seven aircraft, "four MiG-29s, an Su-24, an Su-25 and an Su-27". The reduced rate of loss, compared to reported 62 aircraft in 2022, is credited to longer range western weapons.

Equipment

The last reliable information of the number of Ukrainian Air Force operational aircraft came in December 2021; during the current escalation of fighting, losses, technical refitting and donations may have changed the equipment numbers reported below.

Aircraft

As of December 2023, the amount of aircraft that are still in service, especially fighter aircraft, is uncertain. Ukraine had 43 MiG-29s, 12 Su-24s, 17 Su-25s, and 26 Su-27s in active service in 2021 according to data from Flight Global. In February 2022, Ukraine had around 50 MiG-29S, MiG-29MU1, and MiG-29MU2 in service and a couple dozen of Su-27s in service including Su-27S, Su-27P, Su-27UB, Su-27PU, Su-27S1M, Su-27P1M, Su-27UBM1, and Su-27PU1M variants according to Forbes. Since then, Poland and Slovakia donated 27 MiG-29G and MiG-29AS in 2023, while Ukraine has been able to restore some grounded Su-27s back to service.

F-16 procurement

In May 2023, the United States indicated support for training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighters and for allies to transfer the aircraft to Ukraine. Jets announced to be donated will be delivered to Ukraine once the Ukrainian pilots have completed their training. Denmark will provide 19 F-16 aircraft and the Netherlands will attempt to provide up to 100% of their remaining fleet of 42 aircraft, with the exception of the aircraft required for the training of Ukrainian pilots and maintenance personnel that will take place in Denmark and Romania. Denmark aims to deliver six F-16s by April 2024, then eight F-16s in the rest of the year and five afterwards. The Netherlands committed to an initial delivery of 18 aircraft. Norway have provided two F-16s to train Ukrainian pilots, while the total number of aircraft provided to Ukraine will be six. Belgium announced that they will send a total of 30 F-16s to Ukraine by 2028, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy stating that the first aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2024. Greece has reportedly pledged 32 of its decommissioned F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. These aircraft will first be sent to the United States for repairs and necessary upgrades before transferring them to Ukraine. All F-16 aircraft supplied by Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium will be the F-16AM (single-seat) / F-16BM (twin-seat) Block 15 Mid-Life Update (MLU) variants. These variants are analogous to the F-16C/D Block 30/50/52. As of August 2024, Ukraine has received ten F-16s, and six Ukrainian pilots have completed their training. By the end of 2024, Ukraine is expected to have twenty F-16s. The remaining jets will be delivered in batches throughout 2025.

Mirage 2000-5 procurement

On 6 June 2024, according to Le Figaro, French president Emmanuel Macron announced the future transfer of an unspecified number of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine. According to French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu, the first Mirages will be delivered in the first quarter of 2025, and they will be modernized before delivery, with new air and ground combat systems as well defenses against electronic warfare. In October 2024, it was reported that the first batch of three Mirages will be equipped with MICA missile, SCALP-EG cruise missiles, and AASM Hammer guided bombs. In November 2024, French legislator Frank Giletti stated in his budget review that six Mirage-5Fs will be delivered to the UAF with a "complete support model" for maintenance and combat readiness.

Current inventory

Retired

Previous aircraft operated were the MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-27, Sukhoi Su-17, Sukhoi Su-15, Yakovlev Yak-28, Tupolev Tu-160, Tupolev Tu-95, Tupolev Tu-22M, Tupolev Tu-22, Tupolev Tu-16, Tupolev Tu-154, and the Tupolev Tu-134.

Armament

Air Defense

Radars

Branches of the Air Force

Anti-Aircraft Missile Defense Forces

The Anti-Aircraft Missile Defense Forces Corps were created after the 2004 merger of the Air Force and the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces. It allowed the Armed Forces of Ukraine to adopt the tri-service structure, common to most modern armed forces in the world as of present. Personnel of this force fall under the direct control of the Ukrainian Air Force General Command. They are dedicated to anti-air defense operations in defense of air force bases and facilities and other structures of state as well as economic complexes and others as mandated by law, as well as provide support to elements of the Ground Forces, Marine Corps and Navy in combat operations.

Structure

As of August 2023 the structure is as follows:

Geographic distribution

Military ranks

Officers

Other ranks and NCOs

Training

Training activities have taken on a qualitatively new character due to their complexity, including the simultaneous employment of all branches of the Air Force aviation, anti-aircraft artillery and radar troops in close teamwork with units of other armed services of the Armed Forces. Operational and combat training has included the following activities: In early September 2007, the Ukrainian Air Force conducted the most large-scale training of its aircraft to date. As the Defense Minister of Ukraine, Anatoliy Hrytsenko stated, "The most large-scale, during the whole 16 years of the Ukrainian independence, training of fighting aircraft, which defends our air space, was carried out during September 4–5". According to him, they fulfilled 45 battle launches of air-to-air missile, out of them 22 during the day and 23 at night. 35 pilots confirmed their high skills during the training. Hrytsenko stressed that 100% of air targets were hit. The Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company developed the KhAZ-30 ultralight trainer for the Ukrainian Airforce. The aircraft is designed for elementary pilot training as an introductory aircraft before recruits move on the more advanced Aero L-39 Albatros trainer.

Invasion of Ukraine

Shooting down cruise missiles became important as the war progressed, so pilots received specialist training. The same tactics are used to intercept drones. Pilots use their infrared search and track to detect cruise missiles and drones by their heat signature. They were trained to do this using simulators. Whereas most cruise missiles fly low and are hard to detect, Russian cruise missiles leave a heat signature from their “conventional two-circuit jet engines”. President Zelenskyy singled out the 204th Tactical Aviation Brigade for praise in shooting down drones. As surface-to-air missiles run out the fighters are called upon to do more work.

Notable people