: How NATO Pilots Could Help Defend Ukraine #WorldNEWS This past week, it’s rumored that a pilot known as the “Ghost of Kyiv” defeated six Russian aircraft before being shot down and

How NATO Pilots Could Help Defend Ukraine #WorldNEWS
This past week, it’s rumored that a pilot known as the “Ghost of Kyiv” defeated six Russian aircraft before being shot down and killed. If true, this makes him the first fighter ace of the 21st-century. His efforts, and those of pilots like him, have thus far unexpectedly denied Russia air superiority over Ukraine’s skies. If Ukraine is to prevail in this war, this air battle cannot be lost. Ukraine’s air forces are outmanned (they have far fewer pilots than Russia) and outclassed (their MiG-29s are a generation behind Russian fighter aircraft). This has led President Zelensky to call for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine, a request which will likely go unfulfilled as it could pit NATO and Russian aircraft against one another. However, there is a way to give Zelensky the air power he needs without pitting NATO aircraft against Russian ones—and it’s something the U. S. has done in the past.
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In the early days of the Second World War, before the U. S. had committed to fight in Europe and the Pacific, the Lend Lease Act allowed us to arm our allies, such as the British and the Chinese while not becoming an active party to the war. American military pilots and ground crews were granted leaves of absence from their units to serve in squadrons like the Flying Tigers in China and in the “Eagle Squadrons” of the Royal Air Force. Indeed, some of America’s greatest fighter aces from the Second World War, pilots like Marine Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, scored their first kills flying aircraft that didn’t have U. S. markings. The efforts of these hundred-plus volunteer pilots helped hold back the tide of Axis aggression in theaters of war as far flung as the Japanese invasion of China and the Battle of Britain during the earliest, most fraught days of that war.

Despite its heroic initial resistance, the Ukrainian military finds itself in a precarious position. Although NATO-member nations have begun to discuss the transfer of dozens of planes to the Ukrainian air forces, when it comes to denying Russia air superiority, aircraft are only part of the equation. Anti-air systems like Stinger missiles, as well as command-and-control also play an essential role, but no air strategy can succeed without a healthy roster of pilots.
This past weekend, as negotiations around aircraft began, President Zelensky announced the formation of an International Brigade to fight in Ukraine. This program, which allows foreigners with military experience to enlist in Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces, is a wise move. However, NATO member nations should expand that effort.