Poland’s remaining MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters are sitting on the ramp at Minsk Mazowiecki, going nowhere. Five months after Warsaw confirmed it would send the jets to Ukraine, the deal is frozen — and the reason is not politics, not logistics, not NATO hesitancy. It is drones.

Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk confirmed on June 15 that Poland has not transferred a single MiG-29 from the current batch. The condition: Ukraine must first hand over battlefield-tested drone technology that Kyiv agreed to share months ago. No tech, no jets. Warsaw is not bluffing.

“We agreed with the Ukrainian side on a transfer of technology,” Tomczyk told Radio Zet. “If this matter is agreed, then the issue of the fighters will end successfully.”

The Deal That Stalled

The arrangement seemed straightforward when it was announced in December 2025. Poland would send its remaining Soviet-era fighters to Ukraine — jets Warsaw no longer needs now that F-35As are arriving at Łask Air Base and FA-50PLs are filling the light fighter role. In return, Ukraine would share the drone technologies its military has developed and refined under fire since 2022.

A letter of intent was signed in February 2026 after Ukraine’s ambassador to Warsaw, Vasyl Bodnar, confirmed the exchange. But the drone technology transfer has not materialised. Tomczyk did not specify which technologies are at issue, but the scope almost certainly includes Ukraine’s first-person-view attack drones, long-range strike UAVs, and the counter-UAS systems that have made Ukrainian forces the world’s leading practitioners of drone warfare.

“A relationship of solidarity must be a two-way relationship,” Tomczyk told TVP World. “Ukrainians are the best in drones of all the countries with which we have positive relations.”

Why Poland Wants Ukrainian Drone Tech

Poland is not being petty. Warsaw has watched Russian drones — Shahed-136 derivatives, Orlan-10 reconnaissance platforms, and unidentified surveillance UAVs — violate or approach its airspace repeatedly since the start of the war. NATO’s Operation Eastern Sentry was launched specifically to address the threat, and allied fighters from the UK, Romania, and France have been scrambled to intercept rogue drones near Poland’s borders.

Ukraine’s drone arsenal is the product of necessity — developed under Russian standoff strikes and sophisticated electronic warfare jamming. The country has pioneered everything from expendable FPV kamikaze drones to unmanned surface vessels armed with repurposed air-to-air missiles. At Eurosatory 2026 in Paris, Ukrainian defence firms showcased the UAV-290 rocket drone, the ST-1000 Sea Trident underwater drone, and multiple ballistic drone systems. This is the technology Poland wants access to.

What It Means for Ukraine

For Kyiv, the stalled MiG-29 deal is a frustration but not a crisis. Ukraine’s air force already operates roughly 45 Fulcrums — including the 14 Poland sent in 2023 and jets donated by Slovakia. The incoming batch of 6 to 8 airframes would help replace combat losses and sustain sortie rates, but the MiG-29 is no longer Ukraine’s primary fighter. F-16AMs from Denmark and the Netherlands are operational, Mirage 2000-5Fs from France are flying with MICA missiles, and Ukraine has signed a letter of intent with Sweden covering up to 100–150 Saab JAS 39 Gripens, beginning with an initial batch of jets.

The deeper issue is diplomatic. Poland has been Ukraine’s most vocal European ally and its largest arms supplier. If even Warsaw is conditioning military aid on reciprocal technology transfers, it signals a broader shift: the era of unconditional weapons donations is ending. Allies want something back.

Polish defence observers have backed their government’s stance. The argument is simple: solidarity runs both ways. If Ukraine has developed world-class drone capabilities with Western funding and equipment, sharing that knowledge with its closest ally is not an unreasonable ask.

For now, the MiG-29s sit at Minsk Mazowiecki while diplomats talk. Both sides say the deal will happen eventually. But “eventually” is a word that buys no sorties over the Donbas.

Sources: The Aviationist, TVP World, Rzeczpospolita, New Voice of Ukraine, Radio Zet, Militarnyi, Defence Express