The Ukrainian Air Force Is About To Get A Lot Bigger & Better: 250 New Fighters Coming Soon
The Swedish Gripen will further transform an already evolving air arm
Ukraine plans to rebuild its war-battered air force with a new fleet of 250 fighters—a mix of Saab JAS-39 Gripens from Sweden, Lockheed Martin F-16s from the United States and Dassault Rafales from France.
The Gripens should comprise the bulk of the force. On Oct. 22, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson signed a memorandum that could lead to local production of JAS-39E/Fs in Ukraine starting as early as next year.
“We expect that the future contract will enable us to obtain at least 100 of these jets,” Zelensky said. Kristersson said he was looking at financing options.
While the Ukrainian ground forces struggle to hold back a much larger Russian force on the ground in eastern Ukraine, owing mostly to a deepening shortage of trained infantry, the Ukrainian air force is holding its own—and is now poised for a major expansion.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Trench Art to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.