Ukraine Confirms Swedish-Built Gripen Jets Will Join Military Fleet
Ukraine will receive Swedish-made Gripen combat aircraft to reinforce its airspace security amid the Russian invasion, First Deputy Defence Minister Lt. Gen. Ivan Havrylyuk has stated.
Havrylyuk said the jets are part of future deliveries but declined to provide details on timing or numbers, according to BBC. “You will see them in the sky when they arrive,” he told the outlet.
When pressed if this meant Gripens as well as F-16s, he replied the BBC correspondent had “named the correct list.”
Sweden first offered Gripens in 2023, along with pilot training. Kyiv initially declined the proposal in 2024, focusing instead on its F-16 program, but discussions resumed later that year.
Sweden operates just under 100 Gripens and plans to expand to 120 in the next five years, combining older C/D versions with the newer Gripen E.
The Gripen Aircraft
Built by Stockholm-based aerospace firm Saab, the lightweight supersonic jet is valued for its agility in close-range air combat.
The platform’s latest configuration, the E/F, measures up to 16 meters (52 feet) in length, has a wingspan of 9 meters (30 meters), and carries two operators.
It has a maximum fuel capacity of 4,535 liters (1,198 gallons), a payload capacity of 7,200 kilograms (15,873 pounds), and is equipped with active electronically scanned array radar, an infrared tracking system, an electronic warfare suite, a jammer pod, and light air-launched decoy missiles.
The airframe is fitted with a General Electric F414 afterburning turbofan engine for a top speed of Mach 2 (2,470 kilometers/1,535 miles per hour), a range of 2,200 nautical miles (4,074 kilometers/2,532 miles), and an altitude of 16,000 meters (52,493 feet).
In combat, the plane can deploy a 27-millimeter gas-operated internal revolver cannon, Meteor active radar-guided missiles, IRIS-T short-range infrared homing missiles, AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, Guided Bomb Units, AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles, and Robotsystem fire-and-forget anti-ship missiles.
