Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes that among the key advantages of Gripen fighters are cheap maintenance, the ability to land on the runway, and the ability to use all missiles available in Ukraine.
Points of attention
- The localization agreement for 150 Gripen fighters signifies Ukraine's commitment to enhancing its defense capabilities with modern and adaptable aircraft.
- By choosing Gripen aircraft, Ukraine gains access to Western weapons seamlessly, eliminating the need for extensive modifications or additional equipment, thereby streamlining its defense operations.
Why Gripen aircraft are so unique
According to the head of state, servicing these aircraft is really budget-friendly, because a small number of people must be involved.
For our pilot with expertise and experience, it's not a year and a half of training, as, for example, we had with the F-16, but 6 months. All the take-off and landing technical capabilities of the Gripen are also advantageous, you know — they can take off and land on runways.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
We cannot also ignore the fact that these aircraft are very convenient in terms of using weapons.
"When we didn't have F-16s yet, we already started finding tools to use Western weapons on our Ukrainian Soviet-made aircraft. It took us months, we couldn't use the existing missiles because there weren't such mounts," Zelenskyy said.
The President does not hide that it was really difficult.
In general, it all came down to the fact that not only Ukrainian, but also Western engineers developed and worked on the specified requirements.
"So, as for Gripen, everything is hooked on it. Probably, almost everything that Ukraine uses — missiles and other weapons — can all be hooked on it," the Ukrainian leader explained.
