Zelenskyy says Ukraine could receive its first Gripen jets next year

Published: 25 Oct / 2025 18:40

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that under a long-term agreement with Sweden to purchase Gripen fighter jets—designed for more than a decade—the first aircraft could arrive as early as 2026.

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He said this on his social media on October 25.

Zelenskiyy called the agreement with Sweden on the mass purchase of Saab Gripen fighters for Ukraine’s Air Force “historic” and said it is a good choice.

“We are counting on 150 such aircraft for Ukraine, and the first should appear next year,” Zelenskyy noted.

“Gripens for Ukraine are part of our security guarantees—an Air Force that will be able to protect our skies one hundred percent. And Ukraine has never had such a large-scale agreement on combat aviation… Sweden, thank you!” he added.

Saab Plans New Production Hub to Boost Ukraine's Gripen E Fighter Jet Purchase

Apparently, in that case we are talking about older aircraft models. Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has not ruled out the first deliveries of the newest Gripen variants to Ukraine within the next three years.

For reference, the agreement was announced earlier this week during Zelenskiyy’s visit to Sweden.

On that occasion, the President of Ukraine was seated at the controls of a Gripen fighter.

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

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.

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