Sweden will train Ukrainian pilots on Jas 39 Gripen fighters

As part of the 12th aid package to Ukraine, Sweden will train pilots to operate Jas 39 Gripen fighters.

The Swedish government informed about this on June 16.

The Armed Forces of Sweden were given the task of familiarizing Ukrainian pilots and related aviation personnel on JAS 39.

The background is that the Armed Forces of Ukraine made a request to the Swedish government to assess the possibility of supplying and training Ukrainian pilots on the Jas 39 Gripen to strengthen air defense.

Briefly about the JAS 39 Gripen

The Swedish fighter JAS 39 Gripen was created in the 1980s for a possible conflict with the USSR. It is easy to maintain, undemanding to airstrips, cheap to operate — and all this is not at the expense of combat effectiveness.

In total, there are three generations of Gripen: A (single)/B (double), C/D and E/F. All of them are equipped with modern digital systems, radars and navigation. The JAS 39 Gripen has 10 weapon suspension points and is capable of carrying a variety of missiles of different classes. The radius of combat operation of the aircraft reaches 1 300 km. The total flight range is 3,250 km.

JAS 39 Gripen are cheaper than F-16 and easier to acquire, but there are not so many of them, and Sweden is not yet officially ready to transfer them to Ukraine.

• Denmark and the Netherlands headed the European group for training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16. They will be the first countries to begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets, other countries will join later. Denmark offers to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 at its military base.
• On May 16, Britain informed about the start of an international coalition of countries that will train Ukrainian pilots to fly fourth-generation Western fighter jets, including the F-16. The coalition included the USA, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Portugal.
• Western countries began to discuss the supply of not only F-16 aircraft, but also F-18 to Ukraine, writes Politico. This will increase the number of countries that will be able to provide Ukraine with Western aviation.