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Ukraine - Saab JAS 39 Gripen Multi-Role Combat [BCV] aircraft

Saab JAS 39 Gripen is a fourth-generation Swedish multi-role fighter developed by SAAB Avionics. JAS stands for Jakt - fighter, Attack - attack aircraft, Spaning - scout, Gripen means Griffin. Saab JAS 39 Gripen (Swedish: Gripen - Griffin) is a fourth-generation Swedish multirole fighter developed and manufactured by Saab.

The Swedish fighter was designed to create a distributed fighter force capable of countering Russia without the benefits of NATO membership and without facing a surface-to-air missile threat. In fact, it was designed for the very conditions in which it fights Ukraine. Gripen is relatively inexpensive to operate, easy to maintain, and requires less space on the runway for takeoff and landing than some other aircraft. In addition, it has advanced means of radio-electronic warfare, which were specially designed to counter the radars of Russian aircraft and ground-based air defense systems.

Gripen can also be equipped with various air-to-surface missiles and bombs, as well as longer-range air-to-air missiles. Among the latter is the Meteor air-to-air missile, which has a range of 80 miles, far exceeding the range of the French MICA and even some Russian weapons. Compared to the F-16 and Mirage, the Gripen is much more flexible in terms of operational requirements - especially when it comes to cost and maintenance - and more efficient in terms of resources. The disadvantages of the Swedish aircraft include the fact that it has not yet seen combat and has a rather limited availability, unlike the F-16 and its support systems, which are available throughout Europe.

NATO membership will be a mandatory condition for Sweden's support of Ukraine for JAS 39 Gripen fighters. This is stated in a press release from the government office 06 October 2023. The government instructed the armed forces to “analyze the conditions for supporting Ukraine with the JAS 39 Gripen.” “The report should include, among other things, the impact on defense capability, the defense economy, other defense activities and planning,” the government notes. “A prerequisite for possible support under JAS 39 is that Sweden first becomes a member of NATO.” It is necessary to take into account, the report says, “the familiarization training on the JAS 39 Gripen, which Ukrainian pilots and ground personnel underwent under the auspices of the Swedish Armed Forces.” The armed forces must also communicate "the terms of possible support within the international F-16 coalition of which Sweden is part." The report must be submitted by 6 November when the Supreme Commander delivers his military recommendations.

“I can say that there are three more types of aircraft that our Air Force Command (AF) considers cool for us: this is the Gripen (Sweden), this is the Eurofighter Typhoon (produced by the international company Eurofighter GmbH) and this is the Dassault Rafale (France). But the Rafale is a new aircraft, few of them have been produced. The Eurofighter is also not produced very much,” said Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, 30 August 2023. "But Gripen is free from this drawback and has a number of other advantages."

“This is a great plane, and General Mykola Oleschuk (commander of the Air Force, Ed.), after returning from testing, said that we will fight for the Gripen as well. They are very versatile in terms of armament, they are very simple in terms of the possibility of operation and even landing on a normal road,” the Minister of Defense noted. “No matter what, the F-16s will be there. I know it. I don’t just think, I know it. And there will be various good interesting things,” Reznikov assured.

Delivery of combat aircraft to Ukraine has long been a controversial issue. With its fleet of Soviet-made fighters and attack aircraft sustaining constant losses in its resistance to the Russian invasion, Ukraine called for the supply of modern jets on multiple occasions. Even provision of old MiG-29 fighters, used by some NATO countries such as Poland and Bulgaria, was refused on the grounds that it would risk further escalation of the conflict.

An advantage for Ukraine will be the ability of "Griffin" to land on the highway and use short runways.The Swedes can use a shortened take-off from sites up to 800 meters, using the concept of dispersal from air bases to avoid attacks at the very beginning of the war. American missiles can also be used from Swedish aircraft. Western fighter aircraft delivered to Ukraine must be capable of dispersed operations, using mobile maintenance crews and small support teams, and flying from relatively hard runways, to avoid being neutralized by Russian long-range strikes.

The Gripen as having significantly lower operational cost compared to other Western jets, such as the F-16, the F-18 and the Rafale. The jet is also comparatively cheap. On paper, one Gripen C costs between $35 million and $40 million, almost half the price of its competitors, although the actual system price might be higher and almost on par with the Rafale and the F-18. The latest variant, the Gripen E, is significantly pricier.

Gripen is an excellent fighter and candidate for the Ukrainians. But Gripen - at least currently - is in limited supply. The F-16 or even the F/A-18 has the advantage of being in much more numbers and with a large logistic base that comes along.

Since November 1997, the JAS 39 has been officially adopted by the Swedish Air Force. The fighter was exported to the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of South Africa and Thailand, and Brazil also decided to purchase the JAS 39. Even after its signing it will take about 5 years to see real planes on combat duty.

Since SAAB being in a bit of a pickle losing contracts to other systems, sending Gripen would be the best PR for future buyers. Plus this fighter was born for this, Even if sent in small numbers they can still make a difference.

The JAS Gripen C that the Czech Republic uses that Sweden gave away after the lease where done could be given to Ukraine if the Czech Republic buys other aircraft like the Gripen E or a US fighter jet.It would be easier for them to learn the Gripen than any other western fighter.

Training a MIG pilot up to a modern western fighter jet only takes 2-3 months, according to US fighter pilots. The difficulty is training the maintainers. Training them takes closer to a year on F-15, F-16, and F-18. The Gripen only needs one highly trained maintainer and 5 assistants per aircraft. The assistants only need a couple of weeks training.

In 2015, joint Sino-Thai exercises codenamed Falcon Strike took place. The Royal Thai Air Force deployed Gripen fighters of the 701st Fighter Squadron (it has eight JAS-39Cs and four JAS-39Ds in service), and the Chinese – Su-27SK fighters (an export modification of the Su-27) imported in the 1990s from Russia. The JAS 39 Gripen managed to make 41 ‘effective hits’ against the enemy, while the Chinese Su-27SK pilots scored only nine. During simulated battles at a distance of 50 km and more, JAS 39 Gripen pilots scored 10 victories, and Su-27 – none.

In 2022, the Ukrainian Air Force named the Swedish multi-purpose aircraft of the 4 ++ generation SAAB JAS-39 Gripen as optimal for replacing Ukraine's fleet of post-Soviet aircraft. Ukraine operates MiG-29 and Su-27 interceptors, Su-24 bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, Su-25 attack aircraft—only 120-130 units on the wing. There is no board in the Air Force younger than 1991. Ukraine can pour a lot of money into modernization and sign memorandums with Israel, but in the next few years the matter of replacement will be put point-back.

According to the calculations of the Commander of the Air Force of Ukraine Drozdov, the need for the army in the JAS-39 will be 96 aircrafts. The purchase price as at 2021 is $6.9 billion. And that in itself is quite a considerable amount—Ukraine’s budget for the purchase and repair of equipment in 2021 is $780 million, in 2020—about $820 million

Sooner or later, Ukraine must induct new jet fighters into service — and they probably aren't buying them from Russia. The two aircraft seen as most viable for Ukraine are the ubiquitous US F-16 Fighting Falcon and Sweden's unique Saab JAS 39 Gripen-C single-engine tactical fighter tailor-made to operate at low cost and operated in cold climates from rugged satellite bases, with limited maintenance, against Russia's air force. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, stated in February 2023 that negotiations are underway as to which aircraft platform will be preferred.

The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI), the influential think tank specializing in Defense and Security, advised in November 2022 that it was necessary to rapidly equip its Air Force with Western fighters that can counter the superiority of the Su-35 and MiG-31, while being able to operate regularly outside of air bases and having a relatively low logistical requirements. Under these conditions, the small but lethal Swedish Saab Gripen fighter is seen as the ideal candidate.

RUSI noted that "of the currently available Western fighter aircraft that could possibly be suppled, the Swedish Saab Gripen C/D offers by far the most suitable candidate in terms of operational requirements. It was designed from the outset for ease of maintenance, and can be refuelled, re-armed and given basic maintenance by teams of just six ground crew using two vehicles on small airbases or highways in cold weather. Moreover, only one of each crew needs to be a highly trained maintainer; the rest can be conscripts or even troops.179 Conceptually, the Swedish Air Force has always emphasised low-level air superiority tactics from dispersed bases, in a similar manner to how the Ukrainian Air Force currently operates, and so the Gripen was designed with ground support equipment and maintenance requirements compatible with that approach. The electronic warfare suite on the Gripen C/D is also optimised specifically for countering Russian fighter and SAM radars. Other factors that make Gripen particularly suited to Ukrainian operational needs are that it can fire the very long-range European Meteor missile, which, thanks to its ramjet propulsion design, is less adversely affected by being launched from low and slow than traditional rocket-powered missiles such as R-27 or AIM-120 AMRAAM, and Gripen was also designed from the outset with an anti-ship capability."

Magnus Jakobson, member of the Swedish parliament a representative of the Christian Democratic Party, and a member of the coalition, said 28 November 2022 the country should agree to sell Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine. MP Magnus Jacobsson expressed his position in an interview with Ukrainian news website Guildhall, arguing that the sale should take place despite Sweden’s law banning the sale of armaments to a state involved in a war.

“My position in the context of military support for Ukraine is that I always insist that Sweden must be ready to sell weapons. In particular, I am aware of the Ukrainians' interest in buying Swedish JAS 39 Gripen (SAAB) aircraft and my position is that this should be possible. Yes, we have a law that prohibits the sale of weapons to a warring state, but since we are already supplying Ukraine with weapons anyway, we should be able to also sell the necessary ones, ”the politician said. “Therefore, I am in favor of increasing military and general assistance to Ukraine, and also for the sale of SAAB JAS 39 Gripen aircraft,” he summed up.

Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonson announced 13 December 2022 no plans to send the Gripen aircraft to Ukraine. He was speaking at a joint briefing with Minister of Defense for Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, held at the Odesa-Ukraine Media Center. “There are no plans to send Gripen planes, to be honest,” Jonson said. At the same time, the Swedish Defense Minister noted that the new package of assistance to Ukraine from his country provides for the supply of modern air defense systems.

Oleg Katkov, editor-in-chief of the Defense Express military portal, gave a technical evaluation of each type on the air of the FREEDOM TV channel 05 January 2023. He noted that the Swedish Gripen is an excellent machine, which is quite often considered a more than successful 4+ generation fighter in the so-called ultra-light weight, which has its own specificity in relatively easier operation.

"But here the issue is that the supply of such machines as Gripen or, for example, Rafale, will actually depend on the resources of the countries themselves. That is, in the case of the same Rafale, only France can actually transfer them. And the entire burden of maintenance and transfer of a significant number of cars will fall on the shoulders of Paris. The same applies to the Swedish Gripen. Sweden is the only country that has a suitable resource for transmission. Moreover, it will not be about decommissioned machines, but about military machines, while the production of any new fighter is a technological cycle measured in years. That is, if they conditionally announce that they will produce fighter jets for Ukraine, it would be quite a long way, so it is objectively easier to focus on the sources that make it possible to get the machines in the short term," the expert believes. He added that training Ukrainian pilots on any type of fighter will take about six months.