The Local
February 21, 2023

Could Sweden’s ‘unique’ Gripen fighters help Ukraine?

Earlier this month Volodymyr Zelensky said that, after tanks, fighter planes are “the next level of our cooperation.”

Some commentators have said that Sweden’s own fighters are the best option, since they are tougher and easier to operate than other western jets.

Two proponents of sending Swedish fighters to Ukraine include British MP Bob Seely and analyst Justin Bronk from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), who both argued that Swedish JAS Gripen fighter jets would be better than British Typhoon jets….

‘Developed with Russia in mind’

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Air power expert at Sweden’s Defence University, Arash Heydarian Pashakhanlou, agreed that the Gripen is simple to maintain and only needs a few people to be refuelled and armed with advanced missiles, and that it can use short runways. The jets can also be dispersed out over a wider area to make them less vulnerable to attacks, he told The Local.

He added that the Gripen is “developed with Russia in mind and is therefore very suitable for the situation that Ukraine finds itself in today.”

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The independence of the Swedish arms industry could…make this decision easier.

Britain’s Typhoon Eurofighter, for example, could only be sent with the consent of the other countries involved in the Eurofighter programme, namely Germany, Italy and Spain.

Likewise, countries in Europe that operate American-made F-16 and F-35 jets can only send them with the consent of the US government.

Sweden’s fighter programme however…is under the control of only the Swedish government, meaning that Sweden is free to send Gripen jets to Ukraine if it deems fit.

…Swedish pilots would also need to stay in Ukraine for some time to train Ukrainian pilots to fly the Gripen jets.