After Ukraine said it will make the Gripen the backbone of its air force, the Swedish fighter jet is finally set to be tested in the role it was designed for: confronting Russia.
Ukraine has allocated €2.5 billion of a €90 billion European Union loan to buy 20 new Gripen E fighters and is also set to receive 16 older models donated by Sweden, a potent new asset to protect Ukrainian cities.
“We need these jets and for us this is really a new page for Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said as he signed the deal with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at Uppsala airbase last week.
The deal, which may rise to 150 new planes, could see the Gripen face Russian opponents within a year, offering a first real combat test for a jet long praised for its capabilities but never proven in high-intensity warfare.
The Gripen first flew in 1988 and has been sold to countries including Brazil and South Africa. It has carried out surveillance missions and air policing while Thai Gripens skirmished with Cambodian forces.
“This will be something completely different, it will be a test against the systems that this aircraft is actually designed to face: Russia,” Lieutenant Colonel and Swedish Defence University lecturer Johan Huovinen said.
“It will be a test of Swedish technology in the end.”
Gripens lack stealth capabilities and range compared to Lockheed Martin’s F-35, but also have key advantages. Designed to operate in a country under Russian attack, they emphasise rugged dependability in harsh conditions.
Swedish air force Squadron Commander Robin Arvidsson related how the design allowed all basic maintenance to be carried out while wearing gloves.
“Small details like that matter a lot when you are out in the field during winter,” he told Reuters as his squadron carried out NATO air policing in Iceland in March.
Whereas aircraft like the F-35 are designed to operate from the relative security of an airbase or carrier, Gripens can take off and land on any straight road, meaning they can be dispersed and harder to attack.
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