What Are the Gripen Fighter Jets Ukraine Is Buying from Sweden and Why?
Overview of Ukraine's Gripen Fighter Jet Purchase
By Johan Ahlander
STOCKHOLM, June 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in May Ukraine would buy 20 of Saab's Gripen E fighter jets and Sweden will gift another 16 of an older model, to help Ukraine in the war against Russia.
The two countries signed a letter of intent last year paving the way for Sweden to sell up to 150 jets and Ukraine has allocated €2.5 billion of a €90 billion European Union loan for the first 20 planes.
What Is the Gripen?
Gripen is a fourth generation light single-engine supersonic fighter jet. It is a so-called multi-role fighter aircraft, designed for missions such as air-to-air combat, aerial bombing and reconnaissance. It is seen as a solid low-cost alternative to the more expensive fifth generation planes, such as the F-35.
Gripen, Swedish for the mythical creature Griffin, has been in commission since 1996 but has been upgraded several times. The first plane of the latest version, Gripen E, was delivered to the Swedish Air Force in October. In total more than 280 Gripens have been manufactured.
Why Did Ukraine Choose Gripen?
The Gripen was designed specifically to face Russia and to operate under less than ideal conditions.
Unlike aircraft like the F-35, which operate from the relative security of an airbase or carrier, Gripens can take off and land on any straight road. Dispersing aircraft makes them harder to attack on the ground.
Ukraine says the ease of maintaining Gripens leads to higher sortie rates. A crew of six people, one trained technician and five conscripts, can refuel, rearm, and clear it for the next mission in under 10 minutes.
Gripen can use munitions from multiple NATO suppliers, like American JDAM and AIM-120 AMRAAM, British Storm Shadow, French SCALP, removing single-nation dependency.
Where Has the Gripen Been Used?
Swedish media said Gripens were used in direct combat for the first time this year, when Thailand deployed fighter jets in confrontations with Cambodia. Prior to that, the Gripen has mainly been used for air policing and was deployed to Poland in 2025 as part of a NATO mission to patrol allied airspace. It was also used to enforce the NATO no-fly zone in Libya in 2014.
Which Other Countries Have Bought the Gripen?
Sweden, neutral until it joined the EU in 1995 and militarily unaligned until it joined NATO in 2024, has relied on Saab to supply its air force since World War Two. It took the decision to develop the Gripen in the 1980s.
The Gripen, which competes with Lockheed Martin's F-35 and F-16, Dassault Aviation's Rafale and Eurofighter, has been exported to South Africa, Thailand, Brazil, the Czech Republic and Hungary while Colombia has also decided to buy it.
What Are the Jets' Specifications?
Gripen E Technical Details
The Gripen E is just over 15 metres long, weighs 16.5 tonnes and can refuel, rearm and be back in the air in 10 minutes after landing. It has a low cost-per-flight-hour compared with rivals like Lockheed's F-35.
Operational Efficiency and Cost
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Niklas Pollard, Alison Williams and Toby Chopra)
