The fact that the transfer of the Swedish Gripen fighter jets was put on hold for the sake of F-16 aircraft became known at the end of May 2024. At the time, Swedish Minister for Defense Pål Jonson said that this was a coalition decision and was related to prioritizing American aircraft in order to concentrate efforts and resources.
But now Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström has said that the decision to stop work on Gripen aircraft came from Ukraine.
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"It has nothing to do with the decision by the Swedish government. This decision was brought about because Ukraine reached the conclusion that to bring on board two air fighter systems at the same time, both F- 16 and Gripens, were to be too much.", he said in an interview with the Voice of America.
According to Billström, Sweden is open to continue to work in this direction and that "this is a matter for Ukraine, not the Swedish government."
It is important to note that Tobias Billström said that this decision is really logical and is related to two factors. First, the there are more F-16 jets in terms of the number available for transfer as well as in terms of donor countries.
The second aspect is the difficulty of commissioning fighters. The F-16 example shows how complicated and time-consuming this process can be.
"It's not just a question about receiving airplanes and training pilots. These are complicated systems and to have two of them at the same time being implemented was too much", - Tobias Billström noted.
It should be noted that while several NATO members train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16, training on the Gripen would be the responsibility of Sweden, and possibly the Czech Republic, which, along with Hungary, is the only foreign operator of these aircraft in NATO.
"But that is not to say that Sweden is not open to continue with Gripens air fighters if and when F-16 programs have been concluded", Tobias Billström summarizes.
But another type of fighter jet promised to Ukraine also should be mentioned. This is French Mirage 2000 aircraft. French President Emmanuel Macron promised to transfer these aircraft as well as train Ukrainian pilots and technicians by the end of 2024.
Thus, the development and commissioning of the F-16 and Mirage 2000 will be carried out in parallel. And this really allows us to look at the Gripen supply from a different angle.
Especially, when Ukraine's real current need for F-16s is 128 jets. The only chance to get closer to this figure is to put several types of multifunctional fighters into service, or to get the United States to reconsider its refusal to donate F-16s.
Earlier Defense Express reported that Norway would send only 6 F-16s to Ukraine instead of 22 or 10.
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