Zelensky: Ukraine Will Receive Its First Gripen Fighter Jets in 2026

Ukraine expects to receive the first of 150 Swedish JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets in 2026, likely in the C/D version.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced this.

“We are counting on 150 such aircraft for Ukraine, and the first ones should arrive next year. The Gripen fighter jets for Ukraine are part of our security guarantees. Such an Air Force will be able to protect our skies 100 percent,” he said.

On October 22, Ukraine and Sweden signed a letter of intent, which opened the possibility of concluding a firm contract for the supply of Swedish fighter jets to Ukraine. Ukraine seeks to purchase 100 to 150 of the latest JAS-39 Gripen E aircraft.

At the same time, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said during the signing of the document that this was “the beginning of a long journey for the next 10-15 years.”

“Next, we are talking about the latest generation (Gripen E, ed.), which was recently unveiled in Sweden. Production is just beginning here. So we are talking about three years in practice. That is when we will be able to start deliveries. And then you can’t deliver all 150 aircraft in one batch. So this is a long-term process,” he said.

Saab is already working on the delivery schedule and technical expectations of the Ukrainian side and is capable of producing 20-30 aircraft per year, so it is unlikely that Ukraine will receive the Gripen E as early as 2026.

Therefore, it is likely that the President of Ukraine was referring not to the delivery of new Gripen E aircraft, but to the transfer of a batch of older Gripen C/D versions, which are currently in service with Sweden.

In 2023, it was announced that Ukrainian Air Force pilots were testing Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets. Ukraine continued to show interest in these aircraft in the future.

The aviation coalition of partner countries has repeatedly advised Sweden to refrain from transferring Gripen multi-role fighter jets to Ukraine for the time being, as Ukraine is still in the process of acquiring F-16 and Mirage fighter jets.

In September 2024, it was announced that Sweden had allocated additional funding to its Gripen E program. This made it possible to purchase additional parts that had previously been planned for decommissioned Gripen C/D aircraft. In this way, the country sought to preserve older versions of the aircraft for possible transfer to Ukraine.

According to Swedish media, Sweden currently has “just over 10 Gripen aircraft” that it can transfer to Ukraine.