Britain is defying Russia and the U.S. by planning to send Eurofighter Typhoons to Ukraine. This isn’t just another aid package—it’s a game-changing move that could reshape the war. With Russia rattled and Washington caught off guard, will NATO’s gloves finally come off? In this video, we break down the UK’s bold strategy, the risks involved, and what it means for the future of the conflict.
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NewsTranscript
00:00The appearance of NATO troops in Ukraine is unacceptable. That was the threat from Russian
00:04Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after a US delegation met with the Russians in Saudi
00:09Arabia. The warning was clear, if NATO takes a direct role in Ukraine, peace is off the table.
00:14But Britain isn't backing down. Instead, it's doing the one thing Putin fears most,
00:19sending Eurofighter Typhoons straight into the fight. This isn't just another aid package,
00:24these are top-tier NATO warplanes, high-speed, high-tech, and built to dominate the skies,
00:29and if the plan goes through, it will be the most direct Western military intervention in Ukraine
00:34yet. Moscow is rattled, Washington is stunned, and the battlefield is about to change in a way
00:40that no one saw coming. So what exactly is Britain planning? How will these fighter jets shake up the
00:45war? And is this the moment NATO's gloves finally come off? Let's find out. On February 18th,
00:51the Times was among the first outlet to report on Lavrov's comments about Russia not allowing
00:56NATO-affiliated troops on Ukrainian soil. Those comments came after Trump and Putin spent over
01:01four hours talking about how to end the Ukraine war with no involvement from European nations,
01:05or crucially, Ukraine itself. It appears that Trump wanted to project power from America,
01:10only the US could negotiate peace with Putin, he seems to be saying. That's why nobody else
01:14was invited to the discussions. The UK may see things a little differently. The Times
01:19quotes a senior military source serving outside the UK as claiming that the talks between Putin
01:24and Trump were round one. Russia shared its position, now it's time to negotiate further,
01:28while the UK prepares to provide something that Ukraine has asked for since the idea of peace
01:32talks started floating around, security guarantees. Putin is clearly against allowing European nations
01:38to send large troop contingents into Ukraine. Having potentially tens of thousands of soldiers
01:43keeping the peace between his forces and Ukraine is the opposite of what Putin wants. So the UK
01:48came up with another idea. If it can't send troops in on the ground, what if it patrols the skies
01:52over Ukraine? A senior UK government source says that this would amount to an air policing mission,
01:58in which the UK commits significant numbers of its jets to patrol the Ukrainian skies.
02:02Those jets would be Eurofighter Typhoons, with dozens needed to stay on constant alert
02:07for any Russian attacks after a peace deal is brokered. Having those planes in the skies would
02:12also mean that Europe could commit a smaller peacekeeping force on the ground in Ukraine,
02:16which might just be enough for Putin to reconsider his opposition to the idea.
02:20Another Times source also hints that the UK might use sophisticated monitoring technology
02:25to keep an eye on Putin's forces. If Russia attacks, that technology would alert the rest
02:29of the world. However, it's unknown if this monitoring technology would replace British
02:33troops on the ground or help them to keep Putin in line. Whatever the case may be, the outcome
02:38is the same. The UK just shocked the US by ignoring Lavrov's claims that there will never
02:42be a NATO peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Trump's initial negotiation has been ignored and the UK
02:48is preparing for an operation that Russia and the US never expected. The question now is simple,
02:53what will that operation look like? There are no clear answers just yet,
02:56especially given that the UK's Eurofighter idea is still in its very early stages. However,
03:00there are a few ways that the UK could approach sending its Eurofighters to patrol Ukraine's
03:05skies. The first is part of a reassurance force. According to the Financial Times,
03:09the UK is currently working alongside France to create this force, which would rely on Western
03:14airpower to enforce any ceasefire deal Ukraine negotiates with Russia. That force would be
03:19backed by the United States and exist to deter Putin from engaging in any aggression following
03:24his agreement to a ceasefire. The proposal builds on an earlier idea from French President Emmanuel
03:28Macron to deploy large numbers of soldiers to Ukraine, only instead of soldiers, this approach
03:33would focus on the aerial aspect. That's an area where the West typically has an advantage over
03:38Russia, though it wouldn't seem like it from sheer numbers alone. According to Global Firepower or
03:42GFP, which is a military strength aggregator, Russia's military has 4,292 aircraft, with 833
03:49of those planes being fighters. The UK and France bring far fewer aircraft to the table, they have
03:541,607 between them, with the two combining to maintain a stockpile of over 339 fighter jets.
04:01The numbers game clearly plays out in Russia's favor. However, Russia has already demonstrated
04:06that its air force is a paper tiger during the Ukraine war. Despite having far higher numbers
04:10of much more advanced aircraft than Ukraine, Russia failed to achieve aerial dominance during
04:15the early stages of its invasion. Ukraine claimed to have shot down 342 Russian planes and 325 of
04:21its helicopters in February 2024, with the majority of those aircraft being destroyed within the first
04:26few months of Putin's supposed special military operation. Russia failed to take out Ukraine's
04:31surface-to-air or SAM missiles, with even those dating back to the Soviet era proving effective
04:37against Russia's aircraft. Once more advanced technology started reaching Ukraine via its
04:41Western partners, Putin essentially abandoned his initial aerial plans. He resorted to using his
04:47aircraft to send glide bombs into Ukraine from behind the war's front lines after his air force's
04:52weakness was exposed. Combine these issues with a lack of cooperation between aerial and ground
04:57assets, owing to Russia's segmented approach to its military, and Russia's aerial might isn't
05:02what it appears on paper. France and the UK intend to take advantage of these issues via
05:07its reassurance force. The Guardian dug deeper into this force in a February 19th article.
05:12It claimed that Western officials would commit no more than 30,000 troops to Ukraine as part of this
05:16force, with the majority of the peacekeeping focusing on air and maritime defense. Furthermore,
05:21the ground forces wouldn't be deployed on the Ukrainian front line, likely appeasing Putin and
05:26keeping US President Donald Trump happy. In this scenario, the UK's Euro fighter jets would serve
05:31as replacements for the 100,000 to 150,000 strong deterrence force Ukraine's President
05:36Volodymyr Zelensky has already requested. This approach could work for Europe. The size of most
05:41of the continent's militaries is modest, according to the Guardian, at least when compared to Russia,
05:45Ukraine, and the US. None can afford to commit too many of their troops, or else they'd leave
05:50themselves defenseless. Plus, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has already claimed that
05:55there will not be US troops deployed to Ukraine. That's essentially a veiled message to Europe that
05:59it needs to handle dealing with any upcoming ceasefire without American involvement. The
06:04UK's response, along with France joining forces with it, has come a lot quicker than the US
06:08expected. But this is just one potential approach, and it relies on the UK and France also being
06:13capable of committing 30,000 soldiers to Ukraine. If Putin says no, the reassurance force might be
06:18dead in the water. Perhaps the Baltic approach would work better. In a March 3rd report covering
06:23what an air patrol over Ukraine might look like, Defense Express suggested that the UK could take
06:28a similar approach to that seen over the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. All
06:33three are former Soviet states that believe they'll be the next nations targeted if Putin
06:37succeeds in taking Ukraine. Sky News' security and defense analyst Michael Clarke appears to agree
06:42with this opinion. He says that the Baltic states are among the most vulnerable to Putin's ambitions,
06:47pointing out that Russia's leader has claimed all three nations to be part of Russia's natural
06:52empire in the past. Latvia and Estonia border Russia, making a direct invasion possible.
06:57Lithuania is a little more protected, though it shares a border with Russian ally Belarus,
07:01and is dangerously close to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
07:05As for the Baltic approach, it's been in place since 2004 as a NATO air policing mission.
07:10NATO members rotate deployments of fighter jets to Lithuania and Estonia, essentially giving these
07:15countries a makeshift air force to make up for their limited aviation and air defense capabilities.
07:20These fighter jets patrol the borders of the Baltic states looking out for any Russian aircraft
07:24Putin may have sent on secret scouting missions. Once found, the Russian aircraft are escorted out
07:30of Baltic airspace. The approach is effective. For instance, September 2024 saw NATO jets intercept
07:36six Russian aircraft as they attempted to make their way over the Baltic Sea. All six lacked
07:41transponders and flight plans, suggesting Putin sent them to spy on the Baltic nations. The jets
07:46included four Shukhoi Su-30MKIs and a Shukhoi Su-35, the latter being among the more advanced
07:52fighter jets Russia has in its arsenal. Once confronted, the pilots of those Russian jets acted
07:57uncooperatively but not aggressively, according to the German air force personnel who were part
08:02of the interception mission. A similar incident occurred around two months later, with this one
08:06involving the Italian air force intercepting a Russian Kut-A jet flying over the Baltic Sea
08:10and dangerously close to Norway's border. Again, the jets were not adhering to international norms,
08:16according to NATO, suggesting that Putin had nefarious purposes for sending them into the
08:20skies over the Baltic waters. These Baltic missions also involve surprisingly few aircraft.
08:25Defense Express says the Baltic air policing operation usually involves at least eight
08:30fighter jets, with the more recent rotation including four Dutch F-35As and four French
08:35Rafale jets. Sometimes the numbers increase, especially if NATO believes Russia is going to
08:40enhance its Baltic efforts. For instance, twelve jets were scanning the Baltic skies between
08:44November 30th, 2023 and March 1st, 2024. Four each of Belgium and Poland's F-16s, accompanied
08:51by four French Mirage 2005s. A similar approach could work for Ukraine, however there are problems.
08:57The Ukraine war's front line stretches to around 700 miles, meaning more than eight to twelve
09:02jets will need to be dedicated to a Baltic-like air policing approach. We also can't forget about
09:07Crimea and the Black Sea, both of which can offer routes into Ukraine and will need to be patrolled.
09:12The UK won't be able to do this alone. That's why it's working alongside France.
09:16Perhaps the reassurance force the two nations are planning will morph into an air policing force
09:20where each country provides around a dozen jets to patrol the skies over Ukraine. Still,
09:25that doesn't confront the Putin problem. Russia's leader doesn't want NATO troops of any kind on the
09:30ground in Ukraine. The odds are that he won't take the presence of NATO-aligned aircraft scanning
09:35the Ukrainian skies lightly either. That leads us to a potential third approach for the UK's
09:40aerial force, stationing Eurofighters in Poland. That should be easy enough to do given that Poland
09:45and the UK are NATO allies. Poland would also likely welcome deeper cooperation with the UK,
09:49given that it feels as threatened as the Baltic states by Putin. In November 2024,
09:54Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed that the threat of a world war sparked by Russia's
09:58aggression was serious and real. Poland also borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad,
10:03meaning it has a vested interest in preventing Russia from amassing more troops near its borders.
10:07However, Poland isn't Ukraine. Distance will be a problem. A British Eurofighter stationed
10:13in Poland would have to fly over 600 miles to reach Kharkiv, where fighting is ongoing.
10:17In contrast, the NATO air policing force stationed in Estonia only has to fly 124 miles to reach the
10:23Russian border, while those in Lithuania's Siauliai airbase only have a 62-mile journey
10:28to Kaliningrad. These short flight times mean the Baltic air policing force can respond to
10:33incoming Russian threats quickly. That won't be the case for a similar force created to support
10:37Ukraine if Britain's Eurofighters are stationed in Poland. By the time those planes have completed
10:41their 600-mile journey, it may be too late to stop Putin from whatever he wants to do.
10:46So, stationing the Eurofighters in Poland appears to be a half-measure.
10:49It would offer more protection to Poland and the Baltic states than it would to Ukraine.
10:52Plus, the UK deploying its Eurofighters to a country not involved in fighting Russia
10:57could be seen as a sign of placating Putin. Russia's leader doesn't want NATO-aligned jets
11:01in Ukraine, and he won't have them if Britain goes down the Poland route.
11:04It's far better for Ukraine if the jets are deployed on its territory. So we come to another
11:08question. Just how good are the jets the UK plans on sending into Ukraine?
11:12The Eurofighter Typhoon T1 is a multi-role combat fighter that took its maiden flight
11:17in April 2002, making it modern enough to be more than a match for most of the jets in Russia's air
11:22force. It's powered by a pair of EJ200 turbofan engines, each rated at 20,000 pounds with after
11:28burning, and it weighs 46,300 pounds when fully loaded. The jet can reach speeds of Mach 1.8 and
11:34has a 55,000-foot ceiling. It also comes loaded with powerful weaponry, along with an internal
11:3927mm Mauser cannon that can shred through aerial targets. The Eurofighter is equipped with ASRAM,
11:45AIM-120 AMRAAM, and Meteor air-to-air missiles that make it a clear threat to any Russian jet.
11:50The Eurofighter is also capable of firing long-range Storm Shadow missiles, which you
11:55may recognize as the long-range missiles Ukraine received from the UK and is now using to attack
12:00Russia on its own territory. Add Paveway 2 and Paveway 4 precision-guided bombs to the mix,
12:05and you have an aircraft that's as capable of taking out targets on land and at sea as it is
12:09of dealing with aircraft. The aircraft is used in the British, German, Spanish, and Italian air
12:14forces, with Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Austria also maintaining stockpiles of the
12:19aircraft. That's another good sign for Ukraine. Multiple countries using the aircraft suggest that
12:24its combat capabilities impress, ensuring Russia will see the Eurofighter as a threat if it's
12:29deployed over Ukraine. Finally, the Eurofighter has an impressive range. It can stay in the air
12:33for 1,800 miles. That also means it's capable of handling flights from Poland to Kharkiv,
12:38if that's the route Britain takes with deployment, with gas in the tank for the journey back to base.
12:42So Russia would face a jet that's capable of going toe-to-toe with most of the aircraft it
12:46might send into Ukraine. There's only one more question to ask. Why is the UK concocting this
12:51plan now? Part of the reason comes down to the UK's concerns over being able to provide enough
12:56troops for a ground-based peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Despite UK Prime Minister Keir
13:00Starmer's February 16th claims that his country is ready to put boots on the ground in Ukraine,
13:05doing so would take a toll on Britain's military. The BBC quotes Lord Dannet, who served as head of
13:10the British Army between 2006 and 2009, as claiming that Britain would need to send 30,000
13:15troops on rotation into Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping mission. That's a problem for an
13:20army that only has 184,860 active personnel. It would mean the UK dedicating a sixth of its active
13:27soldiers to Ukraine, leaving the country weakened. Dannet claims the UK would have to mobilize some
13:32of its 924,000 reservists to fulfill the requirements of such a mission. Plus,
13:37Starmer's claims that the UK will spend 2.5% of its gross domestic product on its military
13:42in the future still won't be enough. That would only fill the potholes left in Britain's military
13:47by years of underspending. Sending Eurofighters into Ukraine would alleviate these personnel
13:52issues. Britain would dedicate a portion of the 137 jets it has in its stockpiles to Ukraine,
13:57instead of ground troops, providing aerial policing and serving as an early warning
14:01system for future Russian aggression. We also can't ignore the United States' role in the UK's
14:05planning. At the time that the UK's Eurofighter plan started to come to light, Starmer was
14:10preparing to meet with Trump at the White House. That meeting came in the wake of Trump's scathing
14:14criticism of Zelensky, in which he suggested Ukraine's leader was a dictator who could have
14:18stopped Russia's invasion at any time by making a deal. Before that meeting, Starmer said that
14:22any European military contribution to Ukraine's security could only be accomplished with what he
14:26dubbed a US backstop. Starmer added, a US security guarantee is the only effective way to deter
14:32Russia from attacking again. Starmer's meeting with Trump has since happened. The UK's Prime
14:36Minister played to Trump's ego with the offer of an unprecedented second state visit, where Trump
14:41would meet King Charles III. The topic of Ukraine also came up, with Trump conducting an about-face
14:46and calling Zelensky a very brave man, while adding that the pair got on really well. Trump would
14:51flip-flop again a few days later during a heated White House meeting with Zelensky, during which
14:55he lambasted Ukraine's leader for not showing enough gratitude to the United States for his
14:59support. Another meeting followed, this time between Starmer and Zelensky, where Britain's
15:04Prime Minister told Ukraine's leader that he has the full backing across the UK. We stand with you,
15:09with Ukraine, for as long as it may take, added Starmer. Britain is trying to play a balancing
15:13game. On one hand, Starmer is reinforcing the so-called special relationship that exists between
15:18the US and the UK. He's attempting to placate America's wild-card leader, while convincing
15:23him that supporting Zelensky in Ukraine is the right thing to do. On the other, he's showing
15:27that Britain will support Ukraine regardless of Trump's comments. The same goes for the rest of
15:31Europe. Today it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It's up to us, Europeans,
15:36to take this challenge, claimed European Union Foreign Minister Kaya Kalas in the wake of
15:41Trump's tumultuous meeting with Zelensky. Perhaps the UK intends to play a similar balancing act
15:45with its Eurofighter deployment. It gets to show Zelensky the support it claims to offer
15:50without having to dedicate as many soldiers on the ground to a peacekeeping force as it otherwise
15:54would. Plus, Starmer shows Trump that the UK, along with France if the Eurofighters are deployed as
15:59part of a joint reassurance force, that it's ready to take responsibility for security guarantees
16:03Ukraine needs. That, he hopes, will prevent Trump from negotiating a peace deal that favours Russia
16:08ahead of Zelensky. As if to emphasise that point, Starmer addressed the UK's willingness
16:13to take action during his meeting with Trump. He told the US President that the UK wanted to
16:17take a central role in negotiations to ensure a tough and fair solution that doesn't reward
16:22the aggressor. The only way peace will last, according to Starmer, is if the UK and its
16:26allies work together to support a deal. That's what it intends to do with its Eurofighter
16:31deployment. The only question now is whether the UK has convinced Trump to push back against Putin's
16:36claims that he won't allow NATO-aligned forces in Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force.
16:40Do you think the UK will actually get its Eurofighters into Ukraine? And if it does,
16:44how many will it send? Will the US support the move? And what other European nations
16:48will get involved? Share your thoughts in the comments and thank you for watching the video.