Slovakia will strengthen Ukraine's air defense with its MiG-29 fighters, as officially announced by the country's Prime Minister Eduard Heger during a joint interview with his Czech colleague Petr Fiala on the ct24 TV channel.
Such a decision has been on the table since the end of June, but its main condition was the other NATO countries' consent, in particular the agreement with Czech Republic or Poland to have Slovakia’s back.
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The fact is, once the aircraft is transfered, the Slovak skies country will become almost entirely unprotected, because prior to that Bratislava also handed over the S-300 air defense complexes it had in service. All that remains is a small number of obsolete "Kub" air defense systems.
At the same time, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala confirmed that the air defense of Slovakia will be provided by the Czech Air Force. The term of deployment of such an air umbrella was set for September.
Eduard Heger also reported that the possibility of sending Slovak tanks is being considered as well. But he did not go into detail regarding the transfer of weapons, and explained it by Ukraine's request not to disclose the amount of military aid.
Defense Express notes that Slovakia has nine MiG-29AS and two MiG-29UBS in service, according to the latest Military Balance edition. These aircraft were modernized by the russian federation in the mid-2000s by installing new on-board electronics of Western manufacture, including an on-board computer, navigation systems and multifunctional indicators in the cockpit.
In 2018, Slovakia signed a contract for 14 units of F-16V jets worth €1.6 billion in total (about $1.7 bln), the first aircraft were supposed to arrive in 2022, but due to delays they are expected later.
As for tanks, the Slovak army has only 30 units of Soviet T-72M, familiar to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Bratislava also intended to replace those with Western models by 2023.
Defense Express also reported earlier that Slovakia has donated one Mi-2, four Mi-17 helicopters, and ammunition for MLRS for the Ukrainian Army, fighting against russian invasion forces in the south of the country. At the same time, Italy decided to contribute to Ukraine's efforts by announcing the supply of heavy weapons which are likely to appear to be German Panzerhaubitze 2000.
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