The aviation coalition of partner countries has advised Sweden to hold off on sending multi-role Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine for now.
Pål Jonson, Sweden’s Defense Minister, announced this during a briefing at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, as reported by a Militarnyi correspondent.
While he did not rule out the possibility of transferring them in the future, he acknowledged Ukraine’s interest in the aircraft.
The decision to delay the transfer was explained by the technical and logistical challenges involved:
“I think it would be difficult to introduce three different types of fighter jets at once. Right now, we have the F-16s and also the Mirage,” the Swedish Defense Minister noted.
In response to a question about the possible transfer of Gripen jets to Ukraine, he shared:
“But, as you probably know, the aviation coalition advised us to refrain from this step for now and instead focus on our AWACS aircraft,” Pål Jonson commented.
The issue of transferring Gripen aircraft to Ukraine has been raised multiple times. In a recent interview, journalists asked Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk, Ukraine’s First Deputy Minister of Defense, about the types of aircraft Ukraine is expecting – F-16, Mirage, and Gripen.
“Basically, you’ve named the correct aircraft types, but I won’t go into details about when, which, or what exactly,” Havryliuk replied.
