Ukraine will soon receive Swedish Gripen fighters, as well as additional F-16 and French Mirage aircraft. This was stated in an interview with the BBC by the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Ivan Gavrylyuk, quoted by FOKUS.
At the same time, he did not specify when the aircraft will arrive and in what quantity.
Since August, weapons from the United States have begun to arrive in Ukraine under the new PURL priority needs program. Within the framework of this mechanism, European partners purchase weapons in the United States and transfer them to Kiev. Several EU countries and Canada have already joined the initiative, agreeing to jointly allocate $2 billion.
As Gavrylyuk noted, the first deliveries under this program have already arrived in Ukraine, but he admitted that the volume and pace of assistance have decreased.
"Previously, under the Presidential Assistance Packages (PDA), we received assistance from the United States rhythmically and in larger volumes. Today's system, when European countries buy weapons for us from the Americans, requires a certain amount of time. The more links there are in the chain, the more time is lost", the general explained.
Gripen fighters for Ukraine
In December 2023, the then chairman of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ignat stated that international partners were considering the possibility of transferring Swedish Gripen fighters to Ukraine. He also noted that the main combat aircraft will be the F-16.
In March 2024, Poul Jönsson stated that Sweden did not rule out the possibility of supplying Ukraine with its Gripen fighters.
Previously, Sweden stressed that Ukraine must first join NATO in order to begin discussions on transferring fighters to Ukraine.
On May 28, Swedish Defense Minister Poul Jönsson stated that Sweden had suspended its plans to transfer Gripen fighters to Ukraine so that F-16 fighters could be put into service.
On June 9, the Chief of Aviation of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Serhiy Golubtsov, stated that Ukraine had the necessary infrastructure to deploy Swedish Gripen fighters.
In early September, Swedish Defense Minister Poul Jönsson stated that his country allowed the possibility of selling modern fighters Gripen to Ukraine, but only after the end of the war with Russia.