Warplanes: The Current Air War Over Ukraine

September 12, 2026: Ukraine currently has 335 aircraft. A third are jet fighters, including 38 F-16s. Eventually, they will have more than sixty F-16s, but it takes time to train pilots and maintainers and prepare airbases to operate them. French Mirage 2000 fighters are equipped with modern radars and electronic warfare systems and have proved very effective at detecting and destroying incoming Russian missiles and large attack drones. France has ordered 16 Rafale fighter-bombers, and Sweden has ordered over a hundred Gripen E, with 16 to arrive this year. Ukraine still operates Russian-made aircraft that Ukraine obtained before hostilities…