Swedish company Saab has announced its readiness to open a factory in Ukraine to assemble Gripen fighters
The Swedish company Saab has announced its readiness to open a factory in Ukraine for the final assembly of JAS 39 Gripen fighters as part of a proposed deal that would allow Kyiv to purchase up to 150 of these aircraft. This is reported by the Financial Times.
The CEO of the Swedish defense concern, Mikael Johansson, noted that the contract with Ukraine for 100-150 fighters will double Saab’s production needs for the production of Gripen.
“During war, it is not so easy, but it would be great to create capacities at least for final assembly and testing and, possibly, for partial production in Ukraine”, – said Mikael Johansson.
The company plans to expand its production capacities not only in Ukraine, but also in Brazil, and potentially in Canada and European countries. Johansson noted that one possible financing option could be to use some of the frozen Russian assets, if a political agreement is reached on their distribution. EU leaders are currently facing resistance from Belgium, which is blocking access to these funds.
“What needs to be agreed is the financing decision, which is currently being discussed at the political level: how much burden Sweden will bear in terms of financing and risk, how much can be shared with other countries, and how much can be used from confiscated Russian assets. This is still not 100 percent clear”, Johansson added.
As a reminder, on October 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson recently signed a protocol of intent for Ukraine to purchase Gripen fighter jets, but the final financing of the deal has yet to be agreed. According to the Swedish Prime Minister, this agreement does not provide for immediate deliveries of aircraft and is designed for long-term cooperation.
Currently, Ukraine is already preparing its pilots, technical teams and infrastructure to begin operating the Swedish JAS 39 Gripen fighters next year.
