DUBAI , 27 January 2022, (TON): The year 2022 was supposed to be the year the Kuwait Air Force took almost full delivery of two long-awaited platforms that would double its size and multiply its capabilities.

However, delays caused by the global pandemic have pushed the delivery and operationalization schedule to 2023 which may end up a blessing in disguise, as it has given Kuwait more time to figure out the fate of its current fleet of legacy F/A-18 Hornets.

The first two of 28 Typhoon jet fighters being built by Leonardo were delivered to the Kuwait Air Force last December, while the 28 F/A-18E&F Super Hornets Block 3 were reportedly delivered last September by Boeing to the US Navy.

Kuwaiti pilots training on the Typhoons will start flying the fighters to Kuwait during this year and well into the next one.

Those jets will serve as a dramatic upgrade to Kuwait’s current capacity of 27 legacy F-18 Hornets, plus six F-18D trainers. By the end of 2023, the Kuwait Air Force would have doubled the size of its fixed-wing fleet of advanced fighters and significantly bolstered its capabilities.

But the original expectation was that more than half of the Typhoons and all of the Super Hornets would be in Kuwaiti hands by the end of 2022.