Saab waits out political drama over sending Gripen fighters to Ukraine

SINGAPORE — Six months after Ukrainian pilots tested the Swedish Gripen fighter jets, the aircraft’s vendor says government and industry movements are continuing to provide them to Kyiv in what could be a relatively quick transfer.

Stockholm has been touting the possibility of sending the Gripen JAS39 to Ukraine for several months now, but has made any decision on this contingent upon the country’s accession to NATO.

Manufacturer Saab is moving in lockstep with government, executives said here at the Singapore Airshow.

“We are fully aligned with what has been put forward by the Swedish government on this matter – we also continue to work to support and work with our Hungarian partners in the best way we can,” Mikael Franzén, chief marketing officer at Saab told Defense News.

“We expect that if such a decision was granted approval by the Swedish government, it would be a fairly rapid process to send the aircraft to Ukraine. We are moving in the right direction currently,” he added.

What was expected to be a rather quick process of admitting the Nordic state into the military alliance has turned to be an 18-month ordeal, now delayed by Hungary, which has yet to ratify the protocol for its accession.

A senior member of the country’s ruling party told local media this week that the Hungarian parliament could vote as early as Feb. 26 on the issue, and the government has indicated its intention to vote in favor of Sweden’s entry.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is also scheduled to meet with his Hungarian counterpart on Feb. 23.

“There remains a big push coming from inside and outside of Sweden for us to send the Gripen to Ukraine, and we stand ready to provide these should a decision be reached by the government on this,” Franzén said.

Saab officials confirmed to Defense News that Ukrainian pilots successfully tested the Gripen jets in Sweden last fall, which observers hailed as a sign that negotiations for their transfer were advancing.

According to Jussi Halmetoja, former Gripen pilot and air operations advisor for Saab, teaching a pilot how to fly the aircraft is easy, but it is only one part of the equation, as they must also learn how to effectively use the combat systems .

“On average it takes between 4-6 months to train a pilot to use the Gripen JAS39 fighter in the techniques for a limited mission set such as air-to-air and beyond-visual-range,” he told Defense News at the airshow.

“One of the initial challenges that can easily be overcome is language barriers, but teaching them about maintaining the aircraft and using its weapons as well as tactics, techniques and procedures properly are harder ones,” he added.

Thus far, the only Western fighter jets to have received formal approval to be sent to Ukraine are Denmark and the Netherland’s U.S.-made F-16s, which are to be transferred as soon as pilot training is completed.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

新加坡——在乌克兰飞行员测试瑞典“鹰狮”战斗机六个月后，飞机供应商表示，政府和行业的行动仍在继续，以期向基辅提供这些战机，这可能是一次相对快速的交付。

几个月来，斯德哥尔摩一直在宣传向乌克兰派遣鹰狮JAS39战斗机的可能性，但任何决定都取决于该国是否加入北约。

制造商萨博的高管们在新加坡航展上表示，萨博正在与政府保持步调一致。

萨博首席营销官米凯尔·弗兰岑告诉《防务新闻》：“我们完全赞同瑞典政府就此事提出的方案——我们也将继续尽我们所能，支持并与我们的匈牙利合作伙伴合作。”

“我们预计，如果瑞典政府批准这项决定，将飞机送往乌克兰的过程将会相当迅速。我们目前正朝着正确的方向前进，”他补充道。

原本预计北欧国家加入军事联盟的过程会相当迅速，但现在却变成了长达 18 个月的煎熬，而匈牙利至今仍未批准其加入议定书，导致这一过程进一步延误。

该国执政党的一位高级成员本周告诉当地媒体，匈牙利议会最早可能在2月26日就此问题进行投票，而政府已表示打算投票支持瑞典加入。

瑞典首相乌尔夫·克里斯特松也计划于2月23日与匈牙利首相会面。

弗兰岑表示：“瑞典国内外仍然有很大的动力要求我们向乌克兰派遣鹰狮战斗机，如果政府就此做出决定，我们随时准备提供这些战斗机。”

萨博公司官员向《防务新闻》证实，乌克兰飞行员去年秋天在瑞典成功测试了鹰狮战斗机，观察人士称这是飞机移交谈判取得进展的迹象。

据前鹰狮战斗机飞行员、萨博公司空中作战顾问尤西·哈尔梅托亚 (Jussi Halmetoja) 称，教飞行员如何驾驶飞机很容易，但这只是等式的一部分，因为他们还必须学习如何有效地使用作战系统。

“平均而言，训练一名飞行员使用鹰狮JAS39战斗机执行有限的任务（例如空对空和超视距作战）的技术需要4到6个月的时间，”他在航展上告诉《防务新闻》。

他补充说：“语言障碍是最初容易克服的挑战之一，但教会他们如何维护飞机、正确使用武器以及战术、技术和程序则更加困难。”

到目前为止，唯一获得正式批准向乌克兰交付的西方战斗机是丹麦和荷兰的美国制造的F-16战斗机，这些战斗机将在飞行员训练完成后立即交付。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。