Australia may send Ukraine 41 F/A-18 Hornet deck-based fighter-bombers

Australia, Ukraine and the USA are discussing the possibility of providing the Ukrainian Air Force with 41 F/A-18 Hornet fighters, which are in service with the Royal Australian Air Force. If the deal is reached, the planes will still have time to fight for a while before they are finally retired.

Here's What We Know

The Australian Financial Review reports on the talks. According to the publication's sources, Washington is "sympathetic" to the idea of providing the Ukrainian Air Force with F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers. Earlier, the USA allowed its allies to transfer American F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to Ukraine.

Deliveries of the Hornet to Ukraine must be approved by the US government, as the USA owns intellectual property for the planes. The F/A-18s have already been decommissioned after Australia began receiving F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighters (72 aircraft were ordered).

The decommissioned F/A-18s are stationed at a British Royal Air Force base near Newcastle. If they are not handed over to Ukraine, they will either be scrapped or sold to RAVN Aerospace and used in training.

Source: The Australian Financial Review