Sweden has signed a letter of intent whereby it can deliver Ukraine to 150 JAS 39 Gripen E fighters. We realize we have a long drive ahead of us. But from now on, we are determined to research all the possibilities of transportation Ukraine has a large number of Gripen fighters in the future," said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson after gathering Volodymyr Zelenski.
Swedish JAS-39Gripen
The head of the Swedish government and the president of Ukraine met yesterday in Linköping, confederate Sweden, where they visited the office of Saab, a maker of among others JAS 39 Gripen fighters, GlobalEye reconnaissance aircraft, rocket systems or anti-tank weapons for infantry. During the press conference, Kristersson reported that both countries had signed a long-term air defence cooperation agreement. The paper allows exports from 100 to 150 fresh Gripen E fighters.
– We've started work on the acquisition. Gripens for Ukraine and we anticipate that the future contract will let us to acquisition not little than 100 specified aircraft," confirmed president Zelenski, who, as Reuters says, called the acquisition of Gripens a precedence for the Ukrainian army. He besides said that Ukraine plans to start utilizing Swedish Gripen fighters as early as next year. In practice, however, this would gotta affect delivering, for example, utilized or older models.
The Swedish Prime Minister stressed that nothing has yet been decided on procurement and supply. However, it is estimated that the production and transportation of the first fresh aircraft for Ukraine may take 3 years. The decision to supply older Gripen models earlier was besides not made, although it was not excluded.
The Ukraine Air Force has russian MiG-29, Su-27 and Su-25 light assault aircraft, but recently, as part of global support, they have besides received western aircraft: F-16 (among others from the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway) and Mirage 2000 (France).
JAS 39 Gripen E is simply a single-man successor of the C/D version, designed as a light multi-purpose fresh generation fighter. It is characterised by low operating costs (flight time is about 1/4 of the flight costs). F-35), advanced electronic combat equipment, flight-tested functions of artificial intelligence and the ability to burden fresh software within hours, providing flexibility and fast updates. Thanks to the fresh engine and the larger capacity of the Gripen E fuel tanks, it has more scope and capacity than C/D while maintaining very good maneuverability. However, in terms of scope and burden capacity, it cannot be compared with heavier machines of the alleged generation 4.5 (e.g. Rafale, Typhoon).
JAS 39 Gripen E is equipped with Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) which are to have a full of 60 specified machines. JAS Gripen 39 E/F besides uses Brazil, which ordered 36 units: 28 single-seat E and 8 two-seat F. The agreement with Sweden takes into account technology transfer and partial production in Brazil.
