Production of Swedish Gripen fighter jets to be localized in Ukraine

This article first appeared on Defender Media and is republished here with permission.

Ukraine and Sweden have agreed to localise production of Gripen fighter jets on Ukrainian territory. This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with journalists, reports Suspilne.

“…We have agreed on localisation of Gripen. I believe this is a historic agreement,” said Zelensky. Prior to this, on 22 October, Ukraine and Sweden signed a letter of intent concerning the future procurement of between 100 and 150 new JAS 39 Gripen E fighter jets.

Zelensky explained that Ukraine is considering three main platforms to renew its air fleet: the American F-16, the Swedish Gripen, and the French Rafale. The Swedish fighter has several key advantages:

Training: Pilots with experience can master the Gripen in six months, whereas training on the F-16 takes 1.5 years.
Maintenance: Compared to the other two options, the Gripen has the lowest maintenance cost and requires the minimum number of personnel.
Armament: The Gripen is compatible with almost all types of Western missiles and other weapons that Ukraine already uses. This will avoid months of engineering work for adaptation, as was the case with Soviet aircraft.
Basestation: The aircraft are capable of taking off and landing on ordinary roadways.

On the eve, the Financial Times wrote that within the framework of the potential contract to supply Kyiv with up to 150 Gripen fighters, the company Saab AB plans to open a factory in Ukraine for assembly of these fighters. This was stated by Saab CEO Micael Johansson.