This seems to be one of those stories that is like a Yes Minister episode. So we had Kiev after warplanes. Australia offered some retired F/A-18 Hornets. Somebody on the Kiev side said no and called them flying trash. Australia starts scraping the planes. I guess because there is nowhere else in the world for these 4th gen fighters to go or be sold. Kiev later does a U-turn and suddenly wants them. Australia is like, sorry bud but they are all in the final stages of being scrapped.
Now, for some reason. I going to choose to believe it. Even thou I am not too sure about it. If you know what I mean.
2 Feb 2024 Ukraine rejects ‘flying trash’ warplane donation – media
Kiev severely lacks airpower and yet reportedly refused to accept two squadrons of Australia’s retired F/A-18 Hornets
Yet, when Kiev was encouraged to lodge a formal request for the fighter-bombers, an unnamed Ukrainian Air Force official called them scrap that Australia was eager to offload, AFR wrote, quoting a defense contractor who was present during the talks. "He called them ‘flying trash’,” the defense contractor said. “That basically killed the F/A-18 deal. Had he not done it they would have been flying over Ukraine now.”
Talks once again touched on the F/A-18 Hornets in December, after the flop of Kiev’s counteroffensive effort. However, an Australian Defense Department spokesman told AFR the jets were already in the final stages of being scrapped.
https://thepressunited.com/updates/ukraine-rejects-flying-trash-warplane-donation-media/