Russian Military Expert: Kiev Has No Military Aviation to Use Washington's 'Smart Bombs'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Washington's possible delivery of advanced electronic equipment to Kiev to convert missiles into "smart bombs" makes no sense as the Ukrainian forces no longer have military aviation capable of using such munitions, Russian military expert Alexei Leonkov has told Sputnik.

Citing senior US officials familiar with the matter, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the White House was planning to supply Ukraine with advanced electronic equipment to convert unguided aerial munitions into high-precision "smart bombs" to target Russia's military positions.

According to the report, the delivery would include global positioning devices for precision that could be deployed onto a variety of arms and create what the Pentagon calls a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM).

"Why does Ukraine need it? In fact, it does not," Leonkov said. "The only weaponry they used during the special military operation was missiles. Recently they have been using the AGM-88 HARM missile, an air-to-radar missile, and trying to destroy the radars of our air defense systems."

"They do not succeed and often lose aircraft that carry these missiles. The Ukrainian aviation has never conducted bombing strikes."

He added that it would be reasonable to speculate about possible air raids by the Ukrainian military using "smart bombs" if Kiev "suddenly had, let's say, 300 aircraft."

News of smart bombs being provided to Kiev came as reports indicated that the Biden administration was considering shipping out its Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine; however, to date, the US has not confirmed whether it will be doing so.

John Kirby, who serves within the National Security Council earlier informed reporters that the Biden White House did not have any information to expand on said reports.