Among the highest readiness Povitryani Syly (PS, Ukrainian Air Force) units and arguably the service’s most effective MiG-29 Fulcrum operator, 40 brihada taktichnoyi aviatsiyi (brTA, tactical aviation brigade) resides at Vasyl’kiv air base which is just 12 miles (19km) from Kiev’s outskirts and less than 18 miles (29km) from its centre. It has defended the capital for the past 23 years.
Events in the spring of 2014 confirmed 40 brTA’s status as a premier Zbroyni Syly Ukrayiny (ZSU, Ukrainian Armed Forces) aviation unit when the ZSU mobilised all its assets against a possible imminent attack from the Russian Federation. The Vasyl’kiv brigade not only detached aircraft for combat duty in the so-called anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in the Donbas area, but also lent a helping hand to 204 brTA, a MiG-29 brigade only recently evacuated from the occupied Crimea (see Ukraine’s Superbase Kul’bakino, June 2016, p36).
As a fighter unit defending the country’s capital, 40 brTA was especially fortunate during the 2000s, escaping the worst of Ukraine’s economic troubles that left minimal funds for fuel and aircraft maintenance. Most PS fighter units relied on barely sufficient resources for their basic assi…
