Over 2,200 service personnel and civilian employees of the Air Force, employing 400 items of weapons and equipment, are summoned daily to perform defense duties.

[17] Faced with difficulties maintaining a strategic bomber fleet, Ukraine was forced to scrap part of their bomber fleet under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program and return some aircraft and all nuclear cruise missiles to Russia in exchange for settling debts for oil and natural gas imported from the Russian Federation.

[21] Corruption, already endemic in the political and economic system of the country began spreading into the ZSU, resulting in an increase of draft dodging cases and bases falling into a state of decay.

[18] Starting in November 1998, some of the older aircraft began to be scrapped with American funding (with a few examples preserved as local museum exhibitions) and in October 1999, Ukraine finally agreed to return eight Tu-160s, three Tu-95MS's (out of nineteen Tu-160s and twenty-three Tu-95MS), and 575 Kh-55MS nuclear cruise missiles to settle debts for oil and natural gas imported from the Russian Federation.

[17][18][19] During the second stage of reforming the ZSU, which ran from 2006 to 2014, Ukraine was supposed to (at least on paper) move from the old Soviet model of fielding large formations into a smaller, fully trained and equipped professional force, taking advantage of new technologies such as digitalization, precision-guided munitions and sensors, and command and control infrastructure.

However by 2014, it became clear that such plans were beyond the capabilities of the Ukrainian state to fund and implement, resulting in the PSZSU (and other branches of the Armed Forces) being unprepared for the War in Donbas.

[30] In total, 20 aircraft were shot down or lost in accidents, 126 were captured by the Russians after their air bases in Crimea were seized; while 51 servicemen of the PSZSU were killed including 16 pilots from February to early September 2014.

[28] Starting in 1993 the United States National Guard worked with the Ukrainian Air Force as part of a NATO sponsored program.

[34] In response to the Russian annexation of Crimea and the insurgency in the Donbas region, Ukraine attempted to obtain a license to produce the Saab JAS 39 Gripen locally as well purchase Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano training aircraft, but due budgetary constraints, talks were cancelled in August 2014.

[36] In 2020, the Kyiv Post reported that Ukraine planned on fully replacing its fleet of Soviet combat jets with 72−108 Western multirole combat aircraft (such as the Gripen E/F or F-16 Block 70/72); fully replace its Ilyushin and Antonov transport and L-39 Albatros trainer aircraft with unspecified types; and creating a force of attack and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles by 2035.

[37] Prior to February 2022, the Air Force was equipped with a fleet of partially upgraded old aircraft (with the newest airframes being 30 years old) and inferior weaponry in comparison to their Russian counterparts; while its personnel were plagued by low salaries, poor living conditions, and insufficient annual flying hours per pilot, barely enough to maintain proficiency.

With communications from the headquarters in Vinnytsia cut off by a Russian cyberattack a day earlier, local commanders were forced to act independently in face of the enemy onslaught, with pilots quickly taking off and scattering to avoid incoming missiles, ground crews being hastily evacuated and start repairing as much remaining equipment as possible.

[40] In March 2022, Ukraine still had about 55 operational combat aircraft according to David Deptula, senior scholar at the United States Air Force Academy.

This was due to a number of factors including changing front lines, or the fact that they were under pressure to provide closer ground support.

To address this issue, the US and allies began providing Ukraine with a large range of air defense systems, from truck-mounted guns to Patriot batteries.

On 19 April 2024, a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber was shot down in Stavropol Krai with a S-200 missile according to the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence, Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov.

[51] Some American officers told the New York Times that Ukraine used a Patriot missile to shoot down a Russian Il-76 transport in the Belgorod Oblast on 24 January 2024, allegedly killing everyone onboard.

[54] On 16 January 2025, the PSZSU launched an investigation on whether key personnel are being redeployed to reinforce the Eastern Front, following allegations that MiG-29 maintenance crews were sent as infantry affecting the combat readiness of the fleet.

[55] As of August 2023, according to Forbes, Ukraine lost 69 aircraft since February 2022, but they have been receiving equipment and funding from other countries,[47][56] including 27 MiG-29G and MiG-29AS figther jets donated from Poland and Slovakia, while the Air Force has been able to restore some grounded Su-27s back to service.

[58] In April 2023, photographic evidence showed that the PSZSU managed to restore at least one Su-25 donated by North Macedonia to flyworthy condition and upgrade to the Su-25M1(K) standard before it joined the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade.

[60] Ukraine has also received Western air-defense systems from allies, including the Patriot, IRIS-T, NASAMS, MIM-23 Hawk, and gun trucks to help protect its skies from missiles, fighter jets and drones.

[48] In 2023, the Pentagon launched its "FrankenSAM" project which builds SAM systems capable of firing AIM-9M missiles built from parts obtained from the US, allies, and partners for Ukraine.

[63] In January 2025, Syrsky stated in an interview with TSN that Ukraine is developing its own air defense systems in response to the Russian Oreshnik ballistic missile.

[64] In July 2023, it was reported that Ukraine Su-24 bombers were adapted to fire Storm Shadow missiles by using parts taken from Panavia Tornados retired from British service.

[65] On 24 April 2024, during the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) annual Global Security Forum, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Dr. William LaPlante confirmed the use of iPads or similar commercial tablets by Ukrainian pilots to quickly integrate modern Western weaponry (such as AGM-88 HARM missiles, JDAM-ER and AASM Hammer glide bombs) on their Soviet-era jets.

[80] All F-16 aircraft supplied by Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium will be the F-16AM (single-seat) / F-16BM (twin-seat) Block 15 Mid-Life Update (MLU) variants.

[85] On 6 June 2024, according to Le Figaro, French president Emmanuel Macron announced the future transfer of an unspecified number of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine.

[88] In November 2024, French legislator Frank Giletti stated in his budget review that six Mirage 2000-5Fs will be delivered to the UAF with a "complete support model" for maintenance and combat readiness.

[91][92] While Ukraine attempted to obtain Saab JAS 39 Gripens as early as 2014,[29] as of November 2024 there was no indication on the transfer of the aircraft (at least on the short term), with Ukraine's NATO allies prioritizing ongoing deliveries and support of F-16s to the PSZSU; though Sweden has earmarked spare parts (enough for 14 aircraft) for a future delivery according to Swedish Minister of Defence Pål Jonson.

As the Defense Minister of Ukraine, Anatoliy Hrytsenko stated, "The most large-scale, during the whole 16 years of the Ukrainian independence, training of fighting aircraft, which defends our air space, was carried out during September 4–5".