Ukraine’s air force will get a big boost thanks to Sweden and a powerful European missile

Sweden has announced plans to transfer 36 Gripen multi-role fighters to Ukraine. The transfer will also potentially include the formidable Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. These additions represent a serious boost to the embattled nation’s airpower.

This recent announcement is part of a larger agreement between Sweden and Ukraine penned last year for 100 to 150 Gripen jets.

The transfer of the 36 Gripens will be conducted in two stages: first, starting in 2027, Sweden will donate 16 older Gripen Cs and Ds. Then, it will transfer 20 fully modernized single-seat Gripen E and two-seat Gripen Fs, which are slated to arrive in 2030. The donation of the first 16 aircraft is predicated on Ukraine’s purchase of the modern Gripen Es and Fs.

The first 16 Gripens will give Ukraine a rapid increase to its tactical aircraft fleet while providing Ukrainian aviators with three years to train on the platform before upgrading to the more advanced E and F jets.

The Gripen is a better fighter option for Ukraine than other jets like the F-16, because it was designed and built by Sweden specifically for a war against Russia and the type of conflict Ukraine finds itself in.

Despite the jet’s noteworthy capabilities, SAAB – its manufacturer – has flooded the media with some fairly dubious claims about the Gripen’s low maintenance requirements, its electronic warfare suite making stealth unnecessary, and how many troops it actually takes to support the jet.

It is true, for instance, that you can re-arm and refuel the Gripen on just about any straight stretch of highway in about 10 minutes with just one qualified tech and five lightly trained conscripts. Yet, in promotional material this is commonly referred to as aircraft maintenance, whereas, in reality it is just hot-loading between maintenance intervals.

German Air Force beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile trainer MBDA Meteor on the hook of an EINSA VAP-60 weapons loader at Schleswig Air Base during the German Military Day 2025. (Photo by Boevaya mashina/Wikimedia Commons)

Misleading marketing malarkey notwithstanding, the Gripen C is an incredibly capable jet, and the new Gripen E is even better.

The Gripen E is an advanced and fully modernized 4th-generation fighter with a serious injection of 5th-generation hardware. It carries the new ES-05 active electronically scanned array (AESA) fire control radar, which is more advanced and capable than anything found in a Russian fighter short of maybe the Su-57. This array is fully integrated with Leonardo’s Skyward-G infrared search and track targeting (IRST) system (an evolution of the PIRATE IRST system found in the Eurofighter Typhoon) to detect and target enemy aircraft without broadcasting radar waves that might reveal its location.

The combination of the Gripen E’s ability to operate from austere and isolated stretches of highway, and especially its advanced onboard sensors and sensor fusion capabilities, would be scary enough by itself for dated Russian fighters over Ukraine, but if reports of Meteor transfers prove true, that could turn the Gripen E into Moscow’s biggest boogeyman.

The MBDA Meteor is one of the most capable long-range air-to-air missiles in the world today, thanks in large part to its unique ramjet propulsion system that allows it to regulate the speed of its fuel burn.

By throttling their fuel burn, Meteors fly under power longer and have one of the largest known no-escape zones of any in-service air-to-air missile.

With the Meteor’s maximum reported range of 120 miles and the Gripen E’s incredibly powerful AESA radar, Ukraine’s air force will reach a new level of capability.

Feature Image: Gripen E fighters. (Saab)

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