Swedish warplanes, pilots headed to Ukraine?
Could Sweden’s ‘unique’ Gripen fighters help Ukraine? | Earlier this month Volodymyr Zelensky said that, after tanks, fighter planes are “the next level of our cooperation.” Some commentators have said that Sweden’s own fighters are the best option, since they are tougher and easier to operate than other western jets. Two proponents of sending Swedish fighters to Ukraine include British MP Bob Seely and analyst Justin Bronk from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), who both argued that Swedish JAS Gripen fighter jets would be better than British Typhoon jets. ● Air power expert at Sweden’s Defence University, Arash Heydarian Pashakhanlou, agreed that the Gripen is simple to maintain and only needs a few people to be refuelled and armed with advanced missiles, and that it can use short runways. The jets can also be dispersed out over a wider area to make them less vulnerable to attacks, he told The Local. He added that the Gripen is “developed with Russia in mind and is therefore very suitable for the situation that Ukraine finds itself in today.”