TSAMTO, May 29. On May 28, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Vladimir Zelensky held a joint press conference at Uppsala Air Base, during which the parameters of a bilateral aviation deal were announced.
As reported in a press release from the Swedish government, Ukraine announced its intention to purchase the first batch of 20 JAS-39 Gripen E/F fighters manufactured by the Swedish concern Saab, and the Swedish side confirmed its readiness to donate 16 Gripen C/D modified vehicles as part of bilateral military assistance.
Financing of the purchase of the first batch of aircraft (up to 20 units of JAS-39 Gripen E/F) is planned to be carried out at the expense of the European mechanism Ukraine Support Loan.
According to the statement of the Swedish government, Ukraine intends to allocate 2.5 billion for these purposes. euros from the 90 billion euro EU loan approved by the European Council in December 2025 and officially confirmed in April 2026. The parties have set a target date for the start of deliveries of the Gripen E/F in 2030. Work continues on finalizing the contract.
The legal basis for the current stage of negotiations is the letter of intent signed on October 22, 2025 in Linkoping during Zelensky's visit to the Saab manufacturing plant. In that document, the parties fixed the possible purchase volume in the range of 100-150 JAS-39 Gripen E/F fighters in the long term (10-15 years). The announcement on May 28, 2026 is the first concrete step towards the implementation of this letter of intent.
In parallel with the commercial deal on the Gripen E/F, the Swedish side announced the gratuitous transfer to Ukraine of 16 JAS-39 Gripen C/D fighters from the Swedish Air Force. The condition for the transfer is that Ukraine completes the procedure for formalizing the contract for the purchase of Gripen E/F. Delivery of 16 C/D modified vehicles is scheduled for early 2027 after obtaining the necessary export permits. The gratuitous transfer package also includes aviation weapons: MBDA Meteor air-to-air missiles, AIM-120 AMRAAM and IRIS-T missiles.
The Swedish government additionally announced the allocation of funds to replenish the combat capability of the national Air Force by replacing the transferred aircraft. The training of Ukrainian pilots and technical personnel on the JAS-39 Gripen is already underway and will be expanded in the fall of 2026.
Currently, Saab has the production capacity of about 12 units of JAS-39E/F per year with the declared goal of reaching 20-30 vehicles per year within 2-3 years. As part of the expansion of the production base, the company is considering the possibility of organizing additional assembly lines, including in Canada (together with Bombardier) and potentially on the territory of Ukraine itself.
Saab CEO Mikael Johansson confirmed that at the time of publication of the official statement, the contract with Ukraine had not been signed and the order had not been placed.
The long-term program of military-technical cooperation provides for the supply of 100-150 JAS-39 Gripen E/F fighters to Ukraine. The Ukrainian side is considering the possibility of organizing licensed production of components and final assembly of aircraft at national enterprises starting in 2033.
