Sweden,Ukraine Reach Agreement for Potential โฃSale โฃof Up to 150 gripen Fighter Jets
LINKรPING,Sweden – Sweden andโ Ukraine have signed an agreementโ outlining long-term cooperation in โairโข defence,including the potential sale of 100 to 150 newly produced JAS-39 Gripen โคE fighter jets,Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced โWednesday. The agreement comes as Ukraine seeks to bolster its air defenses against ongoing Russian aggression.
Ukrainian โPresident Volodymyr zelenskyy, who visitedโข the Saab factory in Linkรถping alongside Kristersson, stated he anticipates the contract willโ enable Kyiv to acquire at least 100 gripens. He alsoโค expressed interest in joint drone production with Saab.
“We are fully aware that we โhave a long way to โgo,” Kristersson said atโข a โคpress conference. โข”But as of now, we are steadfast to explore all optionsโ for supplying Ukraine with a large number of Gripen fighters in the future.”
Consideration of supplying Gripens to Ukraine was โฃpaused last May, according โto Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson, as Ukraine prioritized acquiring American F-16s for more immediate deployment.โ Ukraineโฃ has been utilizing Western-supplied fighterโ jets to defend against daily Russian airstrikes since February 2022.
Reuters reportedโ that Ukrainian pilots have alreadyโ traveled to Sweden for test flights in the Gripen.
The JAS-39 Gripen โhas been in service since โข1996,with approximately 280 aircraft built to date. Saab is currently increasing โฃproduction โcapacity at โคits Linkรถping facility, aiming to โขproduce โ20 toโ 30 gripensโข annually within a few years. The company also manufactures the aircraft in Brazil. Sweden has โordered 60 of the advanced โฃE-version Gripens. โคThe Czech Air Force currently operates Gripens, โwith a lease extension secured through 2035, at which point โฃthey will be replaced by F-35s.