During the meeting between the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces General Mikael Büden, the possibility of supplying Gripen aircraft to the Ukrainian Armed Forces was discussed.
Discussion of the supply of Gripen aircraft to Ukraine
Deputy Minister of Defence Ivan Havryliuk noted that fruitful bilateral work is underway to transfer Gripen aircraft to Ukraine.
He added that there are "certain issues related to NATO", but expressed hope that "working together, we can get these aircraft".
The Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces, General Mikael Büden, who led the Swedish delegation, noted that the issue of transferring Gripen aircraft to Ukraine is being discussed at both the political and military-operational levels.
I know that the dialogue between our countries continues. So we are waiting for political decisions, said General Buden.
Will Ukraine receive Gripen aircraft?
In October, Politico wrote that the Swedish government had been cautiously preparing the ground for a possible deployment to Ukraine for several weeks after Norway, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands announced that they planned to send F-16s to Kyiv.
Swedish Defence Minister Paul Jonsson said earlier that he had instructed the Swedish military leadership to study the potential impact of providing various types of support to Ukrainian fighters, including exports or donations of Gripen aircraft.
Experts note that the Gripen is considered relatively cheap and easy to maintain, and it can operate from short, narrow runways, including makeshift landing strips on straight sections of highway.
