Sweden has already donated Gripen fighter jet spare parts to Ukraine, intended for use with a future fleet of 14 aircraft, but authorities have still to clear the aircraft for delivery (Saab)
BELFAST — The head of Swedish manufacturer Saab remains optimistic that the Scandinavian nation will decide to send JAS 39 Gripen multirole fighter jets to Ukraine and strengthen strike capabilities on top of US-made F-16 and French Mirage 2000 aircraft.
“Without jumping into conclusions [at a political level] I hope it will happen” Saab CEO Micael Johansson told Breaking Defense at the Munich Security Conference.
Ideally, a long-term agreement would be struck that opens the way for Ukrainian pilots to start training in Sweden, learn Swedish and begin flying the single engine combat jets, he said, leading to a first squadron of C/D standard aircraft being delivered to Kyiv “sooner rather than later.”
Johansson added that “over time” the more advanced Gripen E aircraft should be sent to Kyiv, before stressing that “it’s purely a political decision” to set the entire process in motion, beginning with the older C/D platforms.
“I can only hope it will happen. I don’t have any more detailed insight into how they are contemplating” the approval decision, he said of political discussions associated with the military aid effort.
Ahead of plans to send 14 Gripen C/D jets to Ukraine at a future date, Sweden has already donated 2.3 billion SEK ($214 million) worth of spare parts.
“By acquiring new materiel parts, a number of JAS 39C/D will be saved from being dismantled and can — if the Swedish government decides so — be considered for a possible future donation to Ukraine,” the Swedish government said in a statement last year.
NATO allies previously asked Sweden to hold back on sending Gripen aircraft so Ukraine could first focus on flying F-16 jets and not overload its pilots with a variety of different aircraft types. A small number of French Mirage jets have since been sent to Kyiv.
“In the long term, yes, [but] I think we have to avoid [giving] too many systems to Ukraine, because they have a shortage of pilots,” Chief of Defence of the Netherlands Gen. Onno Eichelsheim told Breaking Defense last year.
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have all agreed to supply around 80 F-16s under an air force capability coalition for Ukraine, which includes 16 nations in all. Additionally, Denmark, Romania, the UK and the US have contributed to Ukrainian pilot training on the aircraft. Prior to the F-16 and Mirage deliveries, the Ukraine air force had been mainly relying on Soviet-era MiG-29 and Su-27 combat jets to counter Russia’s invasion.
Defense analysts have consistently pushed for Gripen to be sent to Ukraine. A 2022 report from the UK’s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) defense and security think tank labelled the aircraft “by far the most suitable candidate” of Western-manufactured combat jets, capable of meeting operational requirements.
It also highlighted that the aircraft would minimize the risk of Ukraine being subjected to long-range missile strikes by Russia, while stressing that the Swedish air force’s employment of “low level air superiority tactics from dispersed bases” are similar to Ukrainian air force operations.
The Swedish air force currently operates close to 100 Gripen jets, according to Flight Global. Courtesy of a C/D upgrade program and acquisition of 60 E models, both under contract with Saab, the Swedish air force plans on expanding the Gripen fleet to 120 aircraft long term.
Johansson told Breaking Defense that a number of Gripen E types have been handed over to the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) test center in preparation for first deliveries to the Swedish Air Force’s Satenas base.
Brazil is Sweden’s sole export customer for the E version, while the C/D type is also operated by the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa and Thailand.
