Sweden agrees to provide Gripen fighter jets: the Presidential Administration explains why Ukraine is not ready now

Sweden was ready to provide JAS 39 Gripen aircraft. But Ukraine concluded that having two fighter jet systems at the same time was too much.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said this in an interview with Voice of America. The diplomat also added that this is a practical solution. And that it has nothing to do with the decision of the Swedish government.

"We must understand that Ukraine was allowed to receive F-16 fighters, which, of course, are more numerous in the NATO family. After all, more countries have F-16s than Gripen fighters. This has nothing to do with the Swedish government's decision," he said.

Billström reminded that we are talking about entire complex systems. He added that this decision was made because Ukraine concluded that having two fighter systems at the same time – both F-16 and Gripen – was too much

"It's not just about getting the aircraft and training the pilots. These are complex systems, and it would be too difficult to implement two of them at the same time. Again, this is a matter for Ukraine, not the Swedish government. Since we could not continue with the Gripens because of the F-16s, we decided to provide Ukraine with other capabilities that Sweden has, and we have given Ukraine the ASC 890 surveillance systems," the minister said, adding that Sweden is open to "continuing with the Gripens if and when the F-16 program is completed."

According to him, this will mean that "they provide something that Ukraine can use in coordination with the F-16s and it will give Ukraine the ability to do better air combat, air combat surveillance, and air combat management."

He assured that Sweden could still be open to supplying Gripens in the future.

"Airborne fighter systems are very complex, and more NATO partners have F-16s than Gripens. I would say that the F-16, which is now being introduced into the Ukrainian Air Force, will provide you with great and important capabilities," the Foreign Minister added.

He emphasized that when this is realized, then Stockholm will be able to start talking about Gripen air fighters.

"Neither Sweden nor the Swedish government has any restrictions on these discussions after the introduction of the F-16. But this decision was made by the Ukrainian government," he summarized.

Later, Mykhailo Podoliak, an advisor to the Presidential Administration, explained that if Ukraine uses different types of aircraft, it will need to spend more resources on engineering and logistics. However, he noted that negotiations on fighter jets for Ukraine are ongoing at various platforms.

"This is desynchronization. If you use a lot of different types of equipment, especially if it is extremely complex, you increase your leverage. You will need to spend much more resources on engineering and logistics support, synchronization of this support, and so on," he explained.

Podoliak noted that avionics, in particular, F-16 aircraft, will be able to work more effectively against Russian MiGs and Su. The military will be able to tell in more detail what equipment is available and used if they deem it necessary.

"All we can say is that there are mathematically calculated parities, formulas, and the number of equipment. And there is. This is not a technique that needs to be found from the sky. It's not something that needs to be assembled from warehouses. It will be an effective enough tool to force Russia to tactical defeats along the front line, to a more objective perception of the world around it," Podoliak summarized.

Reference

The JAS 39 Gripen (translated from Swedish as "Griffin") is a light single-engine fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. The JAS 39 was first adopted by the Swedish army in 1996, making it one of the youngest aircraft on the combat fighter market.

The JAS 39 Gripen has good supersonic flight balance and high takeoff and landing performance. At the same time, it is statically unstable and during flights with high overloads can enter closed modes and fall apart in the air. This problem is solved by an electric remote flight control system, which allows the aircraft to maintain controllability during intensive maneuvering with high overloads.

Armament of the JAS 39 Gripen

In close air combat, the JAS 39 can use the built-in 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon, which is located on the left side in the lower part of the fuselage. Unlike many modern aircraft guns, the BK-27 is a single-barrel gun, although it can fire 1700 rounds per minute.

The aircraft is capable of destroying air targets beyond visual range (the declared range is 180 km versus 75 km for Russian R-77-1 missiles).

The JAS 39 is a multi-purpose aircraft, so in addition to conventional bombs and unguided missile pods, it can carry precision weapons to destroy ground and surface targets. In particular, the AGM-65 Maverick short-range air-to-ground missiles are used to destroy tactical targets such as armored vehicles, vehicles, air defense facilities, fuel and lubricant depots, and small ships.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

– In August 2023, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Sweden has so far refused to provide the Ukrainian Air Force with JAS 39 Gripen fighters because it needs them. The government reminded that Stockholm is not yet a NATO member.

– The leader of the Swedish opposition, Magdalena Anderson, also stated that Sweden needs to prepare to send JAS Gripen fighters to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against Russian invasion. But first, the Scandinavian country must complete its own NATO accession process.

– In September 2023, Ukrainian pilots were allowed to test fly Gripen fighter jets in Sweden. Defense Minister Paul Jonson confirmed that Sweden does not reject the transfer of these aircraft to the Ukrainian army.

– At the same time, the then Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilov said that the priority for our country in terms of combat aircraft was the American F-16. However, we also need Swedish fourth-generation Saab JAS 39 Gripen multi-role fighters.

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