Ukraine would gain advantage over Russian glide bombs with Gripen-Meteor combo

PARIS — Ukraine getting Swedish Gripen fighter jets equipped with Meteor long-range air-to-air missiles would give the country a counter to Russian glide bombs that have been hammering frontline positions, analysts said.

As part of a planned Ukrainian purchase of new Saab Gripen E aircraft, Sweden intends to donate 16 older Gripen C/D jets to Ukraine next year, the countries announced on Thursday. Sweden said the older planes may come supplied with MBDA’s Meteor, which would allow Ukraine to threaten Russian jets that remain out of reach for its F-16 and Mirage fighters fitted with shorter-range missiles.

Russia has been launching record numbers of glide bombs in 2026, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. The bombs pose a major challenge to Ukrainian defenders by grinding down fortified positions on the front, and aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-34 drop the munitions at stand-off range behind the Russian frontline, where they’re relatively safe from air defenses.

“Gripen C/D with Meteor, in principle, offers the best capability to counter Russian glide bombs before they are launched that Ukraine realistically has access to,” said Fabian Hoffmann, a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies.

Hoffmann said his understanding is Ukraine has gotten “really good” at countering Russian glide bombs with electronic warfare, “so this would have been a bigger priority in the past. Probably still useful to have.”

What remains ambiguous for now is whether donated Gripens will definitely come with Meteor. The 3.7-meter missile weighing 190 kg is widely considered by analysts to be one of the best beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles in Western service, and MBDA says ramjet propulsion gives Meteor the largest no-escape zone of any air-to-air missile.

While Ukraine’s Brig. Gen. Pavlo Palisa, the deputy head of the office of the president, said the first batch of the fighters will come with Meteor, in a post on Facebook , Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said the Gripen C/Ds “ can be delivered ” with the missiles.

Sweden’s Defense Ministry said the donation would include an advanced ammunition package “which may consist” of Diehl’s IRIS-T missile, Raytheon’s AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missile, and the Meteor. An MoD spokesman referred a request for clarification to the minister, and a spokesman for Jonson didn’t immediately return phone calls or reply to requests by email.

For Ukraine, Meteor would give Gripen a clear edge over its other Western jets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy specifically mentioned Gripen coming with Meteor, in order to push out Russian jets dropping aerial bombs, as “very important,” at press conference in Sweden on Thursday.

“Gripen C with Meteor offers a significantly better chance to successfully engage Su-34s dropping glide bombs 60-70km behind Russian front lines than F-16 with AIM-120 or Mirage 2000 with MICA,” said Justin Bronk , senior research fellow for air power at the Royal United Services Institute.

While data on the exact range of Meteor is undisclosed, Saab’s operations adviser for the air domain, Jussi Halmetoja, a retired Gripen pilot, has said the missile can fly 200 kilometers at high speed. Air-to-air missile range is typically affected by the launching aircraft’s speed and altitude.

Training of Ukrainian pilots and technicians on the Gripen is underway and will expand this autumn, according to Jonson.

Russia launched nearly 7,000 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine in April, after dropping a record 7,987 of the munitions in March, according to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. Russian jets mostly launch 500kg bombs but also 1,500kg fortification busters.

Sweden was the first country to deploy the Meteor on its Gripen fleet in 2016. Developed by pan-European missile maker MBDA in a consortium of six countries including France and the United Kingdom, the weapon also equips the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Aviation’s Rafale.

Germany ordered more Meteor missiles in January, after Sweden and France both placed additional orders for the missile in 2025. France and the U.K. earlier this year agreed to conduct a joint 12-month study on developing a successor to the Meteor.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——分析人士称，如果乌克兰能够获得配备“流星”远程空空导弹的瑞典“鹰狮”战斗机，将使该国能够对抗俄罗斯滑翔炸弹，后者一直在猛烈轰炸乌克兰前线阵地。

瑞典和瑞典周四宣布，作为乌克兰计划购买新型萨博“鹰狮”E战斗机的一部分，瑞典打算明年向乌克兰捐赠16架老旧的“鹰狮”C/D战斗机。瑞典表示，这些老旧战机可能会配备MBDA公司的“流星”导弹，这将使乌克兰能够威胁到俄罗斯战机，因为目前乌克兰的F-16和幻影战斗机即使配备短程导弹，也无法有效打击这些俄罗斯战机。

据乌克兰国防部称，俄罗斯在2026年发射了数量创纪录的滑翔炸弹。这些炸弹对乌克兰防御部队构成重大挑战，它们会削弱前线的防御工事。苏-34等战机在俄罗斯前线后方的防区外投放这些炸弹，那里相对安全，不易受到防空系统的拦截。

挪威国防研究所高级研究员法比安·霍夫曼表示：“原则上，配备流星导弹的鹰狮C/D战斗机是乌克兰目前能够实际获得的、在俄罗斯滑翔炸弹发射前对其进行反制的最佳装备。”

霍夫曼表示，据他了解，乌克兰在利用电子战对抗俄罗斯滑翔炸弹方面已经“非常出色”，“因此，这在过去会是更重要的优先事项。现在可能仍然有用。”

目前尚不确定的是，捐赠的鹰狮战斗机是否一定会配备“流星”导弹。这款长3.7米、重190公斤的导弹被分析人士普遍认为是西方现役最好的超视距空空导弹之一，而MBDA公司表示，“流星”导弹采用冲压式喷气发动机推进，使其拥有所有空空导弹中最大的无逃逸区。

乌克兰总统办公室副主任、准将帕夫洛·帕利萨在Facebook上发帖称，首批战斗机将配备“流星”导弹；而瑞典国防部长帕尔·琼森则表示，“鹰狮”C/D战斗机“可以”配备该导弹交付。

瑞典国防部表示，此次捐赠将包括一套先进弹药包，“可能包含”迪尔公司的IRIS-T导弹、雷神公司的AIM-120先进中程空空导弹以及“流星”导弹。国防部发言人将澄清请求转给了国防部长，而约翰逊的发言人尚未回复电话或电子邮件。

对乌克兰而言，“流星”导弹将使“鹰狮”战斗机在与其他西方战机的较量中占据明显优势。乌克兰总统泽连斯基周四在瑞典举行的新闻发布会上特别提到，“鹰狮”战斗机配备“流星”导弹“非常重要”，目的是为了遏制俄罗斯战机投掷空中炸弹的行为。

“与配备 AIM-120 导弹的 F-16 或配备 MICA 导弹的幻影 2000 相比，配备流星导弹的鹰狮 C 战斗机在俄罗斯前线后方 60-70 公里处成功拦截投掷滑翔炸弹的苏-34 战斗机的几率要高得多，”皇家联合军种研究所空军力量高级研究员贾斯汀·布朗克说道。

虽然“流星”导弹的确切射程尚未公开，但萨博公司负责空中领域的作战顾问、退役的“鹰狮”战斗机飞行员尤西·哈尔梅托亚表示，该导弹可以高速飞行200公里。空空导弹的射程通常会受到发射飞机的速度和高度的影响。

据约翰逊称，乌克兰飞行员和技术人员正在接受鹰狮战斗机的培训，并将于今年秋季扩大培训规模。

据乌克兰国防部称，俄罗斯4月份向乌克兰投掷了近7000枚制导航空炸弹，此前3月份投掷的炸弹数量创下纪录，达到7987枚。俄罗斯战机主要投掷500公斤炸弹，但也投掷1500公斤的防御工事炸弹。

瑞典是第一个在 2016 年将“流星”导弹部署到其“鹰狮”战斗机机队上的国家。该武器由泛欧导弹制造商 MBDA 与包括法国和英国在内的六个国家的财团共同开发，也装备了欧洲战斗机“台风”和达索航空公司的“阵风”战斗机。

今年1月，德国追加订购了“流星”导弹，此前瑞典和法国也分别于2025年追加订购了该型导弹。今年早些时候，法国和英国同意联合开展为期12个月的研究，以开发“流星”导弹的后继型号。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。