Gripen for Ukraine: Expert explains why the jets alone are not enough

After President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson signed a letter of intent on October 22 regarding the purchase of Gripen fighter jets for Ukraine’s Armed Forces, questions arose about providing those jets with weapons. Anatolii Khrapchynskyi, deputy director of an electronic warfare systems manufacturer, said the main challenge lies not in training pilots but in ensuring a sufficient supply of munitions and missiles.

He said this during a broadcast on "Kyiv24."

The expert stressed that the effective use of Gripen fighters requires high-precision Western weaponry, and he doubts there will be enough of it.

“I see challenges with the available weapons that can be used under the wings of these aircraft,” Khrapchynskyi said. “If we’re talking about the fourth-generation Gripen, we could potentially use Taurus missiles. But will we be given those missiles? Will European or American companies be able to produce enough munitions to counter the sheer volume of weapons used by the Russian Federation?”

Khrapchynskyi also believes that Ukraine must look ahead and develop its own capacity for maintaining and upgrading the aircraft, following the examples of Turkey and Poland.

“It’s not just about accepting and purchasing these jets, but also about building the infrastructure to improve and upgrade them here in Ukraine,” he noted.

He added that the ideal scenario for Ukraine could resemble Brazil’s model, where the country bought the technology enabling it to manufacture the aircraft domestically.