Sweden allows the sale of the latest Gripen to Ukraine, but only after the end of the war

Following Ukraine's interest, Sweden is open to selling modern Gripen fighter jets, but only after the war is over. Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said this in a comment to Breaking Defense.

"We are also in dialogue with Ukraine, and because they have certainly expressed an interest in the Gripen system... primarily the Gripen Echo, the new version that Sweden and Brazil operate," Jonsson said.

He added that the sale of fighter jets is possible in the future.

"In this case... it is rather a long-term project or the creation of the overall capacity of the Air Force," the minister said.

He made it clear that a potential acquisition "depends" on the end of Russia's war against Ukraine and emphasized that any deal "should be a long-term development".

According to the Swedish minister, this condition does not apply to older Gripen C/D aircraft.

"We are open to discussing the transfer of Gripen C/D aircraft and I certainly spoke with my Ukrainian counterpart when I was in Kyiv last week," the Swedish Defense Minister added, without disclosing details.

• In July 2024, Sweden's Foreign Minister said that it was ready to provide Ukraine with Gripen fighter jets, but Kyiv refused them, as it decided that having two fighter systems at the same time – both F-16 and Gripen – is too much.
• In September, then-Defense Minister Umerov said that Ukraine expects to receive from Western allies not only American F-16s and French Mirage-2000s, but also Gripen and Eurofighter.