{"id":1740,"date":"2026-07-02T22:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/1740\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T22:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:44:10","slug":"sweden-ukraine-finalize-2-53b-deal-for-16-gripen-e-fighters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/1740\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden, Ukraine Finalize $2.53B Deal for 16 Gripen E Fighters\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n \"The
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Sweden and Ukraine have finalized a 24.6-billion-krona ($2.53-billion) intergovernmental agreement to procure 16 Saab JAS 39 Gripen E fighter jets for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

The agreement also includes support services and a training package, with deliveries scheduled for 2029 and 2030. Ukraine is expected to place the order in the third quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n

Following the agreement, Sweden will proceed with the donation of 16 Gripen C\/D fighters to Kyiv, with deliveries expected to begin in early 2027.<\/p>\n

Under a package announced by Swedish Prime Minister<\/a> Ulf Kristersson in May, Ukraine was to acquire up to 20 Gripen E\/F aircraft, while Sweden committed to donating 16 Gripen C\/D jets.<\/p>\n

The Gripen E acquisition is expected to be financed through the EU\u2019s Ukraine Support Loan<\/a>, with Sweden\u2019s donation of 16 Gripen C\/D aircraft contingent on Ukraine proceeding with the purchase.<\/p>\n

The donation package also includes advanced air-to-air munitions, which may include IRIS-T missiles, AIM-120 AMRAAMs, and MBDA Meteor long-range air-to-air missiles.<\/p>\n

It marks the first step in Ukraine\u2019s long-term plan to acquire up to 150 Gripen fighters, helping build a modern air force that is interoperable with NATO allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply proud that Sweden and Saab can now enable the provision of Gripen E to Ukraine, bringing a world-class fighter that will transform the Ukrainian Air Force\u2019s capability,\u201d President and CEO of Saab Micael Johansson said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will significantly strengthen Ukraine\u2019s air defence and help ensure the nation can protect its people and safeguard its future.\u201d<\/p>\n

British Industrial Participation<\/p>\n

The Gripen is built with significant industrial participation from the UK and the US, with over 30 percent of each aircraft manufactured in the UK.<\/p>\n

The UK Ministry of Defence said key parts of the aircraft will be manufactured in Britain, supporting more than 5,000 UK jobs.<\/p>\n

More than 50 UK-based companies, including Saab UK in Fareham and Leonardo UK in Edinburgh, supply critical components such as the radar and landing gear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis deal is both a big boost for Ukraine\u2019s air power and a show of confidence in our world-leading UK defence industry, supporting thousands of good British jobs here at home,\u201d UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

JAS 39 Gripen<\/p>\n

The Saab JAS 39 Gripen<\/a> is a light, single-engine multirole fighter designed for high operational flexibility. Featuring a delta wing, fly-by-wire controls, and modern avionics, it can operate from short runways, highways, and other dispersed locations with minimal logistical support.<\/p>\n

The latest Gripen E\/F variant is equipped with an active electronically scanned array radar, an infrared search-and-track system, an electronic warfare suite, and secure datalinks. It can carry up to 7,200 kilograms (15,873 pounds) of weapons across multiple hardpoints.<\/p>\n

Powered by a General Electric F414 afterburning turbofan engine, the aircraft reaches speeds of up to Mach 2 (2,470 kilometers\/1,535 miles per hour), has a range of 2,200 nautical miles (4,074 kilometers\/2,532 miles), and a service ceiling of 16,000 meters (52,493 feet).<\/p>\n

Weapons include a 27-millimeter internal cannon, MBDA Meteor, IRIS-T, and AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, as well as guided bombs, air-to-surface missiles, and anti-ship missiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sweden and Ukraine have finalized a 24.6-billion-krona ($2.53-billion) intergovernmental agreement to procure 16 Saab JAS 39…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14,1180,353,1072,26],"class_list":["post-1740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-defence-industry","tag-jas-39-gripen","tag-saab","tag-sweden","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}