Ukraine has adopted a novel approach to military procurement with a crowdfunding campaign aimed at the world’s kazillionaires urging them to go airplane shopping. “We need your help. We need a fighter jet,” says part of the text at buymeafighterjet.com. Whoever you are – a businessman, an IT specialist, an actor or a singer, whichever nationality you are or country you live in – you can help us to stop the terror.” The site says fighters are desperately needed to quell the aerial assault from Russia that has decimated several cities.
The Web site does acknowledge that acquiring a combat-ready fighter takes more than the ability to write big checks (about $25 million per jet). “We ask you, Philanthropist, to use your financial, organizational and political capabilities to buy and hand over a fighter jet to us,” the site implores. In fact, several countries have been willing to hand over the MiG and Sukhoi aircraft that Ukrainian Air Force pilots are checked out on but the U.S. has been against it, citing concerns about escalation of the war beyond Ukraine.
