Swedish defence firm Saab has signed a contract with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) to provide 16 Gripen E fighters to Ukraine, in a deal valued at approximately SEK 24.6 billion ($2.5 billion). The aircraft will be delivered to FMV between 2029 and 2030, after which they will be transferred to Ukraine. The contract, announced on 30 June 2026, includes spare parts and associated equipment, and will be booked in Saab's third-quarter results.
Two Tranches, One Transformation
The Gripen E order follows Sweden's earlier commitment to donate up to 16 previous-generation Gripen C/D fighters to Ukraine, with handover scheduled for early 2027. Taken together, the two tranches will give the Ukrainian Air Force up to 32 Gripen airframes — a fleet that, when combined with the F-16s already in service, will fundamentally transform Kyiv's combat aviation capability. The Gripen E, with its AESA radar, wide-area electronic warfare suite and capacity to carry the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, will provide Ukraine with its most capable combat aircraft.
Built for This War
The Gripen was designed during the Cold War to meet the Soviet threat under conditions strikingly similar to those Ukraine faces today. The aircraft was engineered from the outset for dispersed operations — flying from road bases, improvised airstrips and austere locations rather than fixed airfields that an enemy could target with missile strikes. Maintenance was designed to be performed by small teams, including conscript personnel, with rapid turnaround times that maximise sortie generation.
Saab CEO Micael Johansson emphasised these qualities in the announcement, noting that the Gripen's operational flexibility, resilience and software-based architecture make it ideally suited to the Ukrainian operating environment. The aircraft's low maintenance footprint and ability to operate from dispersed positions directly address one of the Ukrainian Air Force's most critical challenges: surviving on the ground in a contested air environment where Russian stand-off weapons can reach every known air base.
The Gripen E Advantage
The Gripen E represents a generational leap over the C/D variant. Its Selex ES-05 Raven AESA radar provides significantly improved detection and tracking capability, particularly against low-observable targets and in electronic warfare environments. The aircraft's integrated electronic warfare system offers both self-protection and stand-off jamming capability. The weapons suite includes the Meteor missile — with its ramjet propulsion and no-escape zone reportedly exceeding 60 kilometres — as well as a range of precision-guided air-to-ground munitions.
Crucially for Ukraine, the Gripen E's data-link architecture enables network-centric operations, allowing the fighter to share tactical data with ground-based air defences, other aircraft and command-and-control nodes in real time. This interoperability is essential in a battlespace where integrated air and missile defence requires seamless coordination between sensors and shooters.
Strategic Implications
The deal marks Sweden's deepest direct military-industrial commitment to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion. It also establishes Saab as a direct supplier to an active combat theatre — a significant step for a company and a country that maintained a policy of military non-alignment until NATO accession in 2024. For the broader European defence landscape, the Gripen E sale to Ukraine serves as a live-fire advertisement for the platform's combat-proven credentials, potentially influencing procurement decisions in countries evaluating alternatives to the F-35 or seeking a cost-effective, sovereign-European fighter option.
For Ukraine, the combination of F-16s for the near term and Gripen E for the medium term provides a two-tier fighter force that balances immediate availability with long-term capability growth — and a degree of supplier diversification that reduces dependence on any single Western partner.