Due to the malfunction, two fighter tires were damaged, but the pilot managed to maintain control of the aircraft and safely complete the landing. No one was injured. The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces confirmed that a dangerous incident occurred.
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The incident happened to a pair of fighters returning to the airfield after a training flight. The second Polish MiG-29, following established procedures, landed at a reserve airfield. The incident will be investigated by the State Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission.
Last week, the Ukrainian ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, stated that Warsaw intends to transfer four MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine once they are retired from service in the Polish Air Force. Ukrainian experts inspected these fighters and concluded that they require extensive and costly modernization. Bodnar also noted that these aircraft are of interest not only to Ukraine. Previously, an unnamed country – likely Bulgaria – had already approached Warsaw regarding the possible transfer of such fighters.
Polish MiG-29s to Ukraine
At the end of last year, the Polish Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces announced plans to transfer part of the MiG-29 fighters still serving in the Polish Air Force to Ukraine.
According to initial agreements, in exchange for the aircraft, Poland was to gain access to Ukrainian drone technology, which is actively being developed and tested under combat conditions at the front.
At that time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that these fighters are important to Ukraine because Ukrainian pilots already have extensive experience operating them. According to him, “the problem is not the lack of aircraft, but the lack of pilots.”
In June, the Polish side reported that the transfer of fighters had not yet taken place because the issue of technology transfer had not been resolved.
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