Military leaders are famous for re-fighting earlier wars. The Press does, too. There’s a ton of focus on getting fighter jets to Ukraine: old, hugely expensive, delicate, high-maintenance MIGs. How about getting them more drones instead?

Planes are important when one side has complete air dominance. But Ukraine is still flying jets. Now, I’m not a military expert, but Russia has been doing the most damage so far using medium- and long-range artillery. More planes won’t change that part of the equation.

Fighter jets are super-risky. Sure, MIGs are a steal at $4.65 million dollars each, but you’re also risking a trained fighter pilot. They’re much more expensive and harder to replace. With both sides of this war packing sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles, flying one fully-armed and manned jet fighter puts a lot of resources in one easily downed package.

I’ve also noticed how much mileage the Ukrainian resistance has gotten from their Turkish-built Bayraktar TB2 drones. At least the claims have been extensive. And Turkish drones cost about one million dollars. Talk about getting more bang for the buck.

Look, I know Americans love overspending on big-ticket ultramodern weapons systems. We can all see the money streaming from our pockets to the American oligarch classes. That level of corruption is endemic. So sure, bribe Poland into donating all their old MIGs to the cause. Make them a deal they won’t refuse.

But can we send Ukraine more drones, starting, like, yesterday? We can supply American hardware if the Turks say ‘no.’ That will change the balance, and it doesn’t put Ukrainian, American, Polish, or Turkish lives at risk.