Ecuador will give Ukraine old, inoperable Mi-17 helicopters, and in return will receive UH-60 Black Hawk from the United States.
Mi-17 for Ukraine
The transfer will occur as part of a deal stolen between the US and Ecuador last January. Under the agreement, the US will supply Ecuador with an undisclosed number of UH-60 Black Hawks.
The Ecuadorian army will hand over Soviet Mi-17s to Ukraine, only one machine is serviceable among them, the others can only be disassembled for spare parts.
The agreement also provides for transferring Soviet BM-21 "Grad" and "Osa-AKM" air defence systems to Ukraine.
It is not known when the helicopters will be handed over. Also, there is no clear understanding of how long it will take to put this equipment into service with the Armed Forces if the transfer is implemented.
As Defense Express writes, the leadership of Ecuador previously admitted that it plans to give Ukraine essentially scrap metal, which is currently unusable.
Therefore, there may even be a risk that in the end Ukraine may receive only a set of "donors of spare parts".
Helicopters for Ukraine
In January, it became known that Germany would transfer decommissioned multipurpose Sea King Mk41 military helicopters to Ukraine for the first time.
In December, Ukraine requested the transfer of decommissioned 45 Australian Taipan helicopters. They were scheduled to be decommissioned in 2037, but the helicopters have had problems, leaving the entire fleet out of service for many years.
However, the Ministry of Defence of Australia was against the supply and believed that the MRH90s were unsuitable for Ukraine.
