The Swedish government will soon instruct the Armed Forces to study the possibility of transferring Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, Swedish radio Ekot reports, citing its own sources.
“The government will soon instruct the Swedish Armed Forces to study the conditions for sending Gripen aircraft to Ukraine. Among other things, the government wants to get information on how the transfer will affect Sweden’s defense capabilities and how quickly Sweden will be able to receive new Gripen aircraft as compensation,” the radio said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
As noted, another issue that needs to be assessed by the Swedish government is whether Ukrainian pilots and other ground personnel should be trained.
Sweden’s JAS 39 Gripen is a fourth-generation multi-role fighter jet. Formally, it belongs to the class of fighter jets, but it was conceived as a multi-purpose universal aircraft capable of performing various tasks.
In August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian pilots had begun training on the JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet. Zelenskyy also informed about negotiations with the Swedish government to provide Ukraine with these aircraft.
Later, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that the country needed the planes for its own defense, as the country’s application to join the Alliance had not yet been finalized. At the same time, he did not rule out the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine in the future.
