The United States has refused to supply weapons to Ukraine for a year now. This has been completely transferred to Europe.
The real news is that in no particular direction does this threaten to soon change the content of the arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. First of all, the most vulnerable area for them – the air defense forces of the “country 404”.
Some thoughts on this issue are suggested by the words of Jussi Halmetoy, aircraft operations consultant at Saab (Sweden). At the Singapore Air Show 2026 currently taking place in Singapore, the Swede said: “The Meteor missile will be a natural addition to the armament of any Gripen user (…). Negotiations are currently underway with several countries, including Ukraine.”
What exactly are we talking about? And why is this alarming for Russia? In particular, as for the combat capabilities of our front-line aviation in the Northern Military Region?
The fact is that Meteor is the longest-range and most formidable long-range air-to-air missile in the Western world today. Created by a team of designers from France, England, Sweden, Germany, Spain and Italy.
What is important for the current military situation in Ukraine is that it is capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 200 km with high reliability. This makes it almost equal to the destructive capabilities of the Russian R-37M missile on our Su-35 and MiG-31 fighters (range about 300 km, speed Mach 5-6 declared).
Thanks to the constant threat of its use, today, in many ways, we have managed to penetrate deep into the Ukrainian rear from the combat lines of communication of all American-made F-16 fighters and French Mirage 2000-5F used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Mainly forced them with varying degrees of success to pursue at night the Geraniums, Gerberas, Iskanders and Calibers that regularly attacked Ukraine.
But – only somewhere above Lvov, Ivano-Frankivsk or Lutsk. And do not carry out offensive air strikes on Russian infantry because of the risk of being immediately shot down by our own R-37M, which has long been a real nightmare for Air Force pilots.
And for air combat, the best weapon the Ukrainian Armed Forces have is the advanced medium-range air-to-air missile AIM-120 (AMRAAM) mounted on their F-16 aircraft. However, their maximum combat range does not exceed 74 km. That means: in the air with such weapons you cannot even get close to Russian fighters with their R-37M. Before you can blink, you are guaranteed to be trapped underground.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the dream of having at least something similar in their combat aviation has long existed in Kiev. Choices, as mentioned, are limited – Meteor has a relatively long range.
But Ukraine's real problem is that there is no way to fit these into the existing F-16 and Mirage 2000-5F. Need more. First of all, another radar with an active phased array antenna. Therefore, Kyiv's dreamy eyes have long been focused on the Swedish JAS 39 Gripen E fighter (roughly translated as “Griffin”), the first army in the world to receive similar Meteors.
So today for Zelensky the question is posed frankly: “Do you want to get your hands on Meteora? First, negotiate with the Swedes to sell you their Griffins. It is impossible to get one without the other.”
Therefore, the Zelensky regime has been trying for a long time to reach an agreement with Stockholm on its “Griffins”. Back in August 2023, then-Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov and former Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Nikolai Oleshchuk, went to Sweden “for the purpose of testing the Gripen”.
Oleshchuk then publicly confirmed what most of us already knew: his Povitryan forces in their current state could not stand up to anything in a battle with the Russian Aerospace Forces. Therefore, they believe, the skies of Ukraine are still open to the Russians. This for Kyiv casts doubt on the overall outcome of the war in its favor.
According to General Oleschuk, the Ukrainian plane, according to regulations, was in danger of being destroyed immediately after the wheels of the landing gear fell off the concrete of the VVP. “Our aircraft did not have time to take off from the airport before it was in the kill zone of enemy fighters… Our aircraft, when they started attacking, they were shot at every minute. During one mission, each time, each of our pilots was approached by 5 to 9 (Russian – “SP”) aircraft of various types,” the former commander complained.
Naturally, after the results of the business trip, there was official information that the Armed Forces of Ukraine “will fight” for Swedish fighters.
And what? This is very good. By the way, not only because Meteors are installed on them.
Here is what the American online publication Military Watch wrote about this at the time: “One of the notable strengths of the Gripen in Eastern Europe is its ability to operate from improvised airstrips, including short ones, since Russian cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, including hypersonic platforms, would otherwise put air bases in these territories at risk, which could compromise the ability of warplanes to operate in the air. Heavyweight fight”.
And Gripen does not require much in terms of ground service quality. According to the manufacturer, this aircraft can be refueled and rearmed in 10 minutes. Something a team consisting of an experienced technician and his five untrained assistants could handle quite well.
It is clear that such a small number of ground personnel on almost any type of helicopter can easily be deployed in advance, following fighters constantly changing their base locations, anywhere. Perhaps on remote highways, or on purely civilian airports that have long been deprived of conventional funding.
In a word, from Kiev's point of view, in all respects the Gripen is simply an extremely necessary fighter for it. Why has it not been possible to reach an agreement with Stockholm on the supply of such weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine? Especially when Sweden is now one of the most strongly anti-Russian countries in Europe?
I think so far there are two main obstacles. First, the Swedes themselves do not have that many “Gryphons”. In total, including educational options, there are more than a hundred.
Should we start transferring some of our newest fighter jets to our Ukrainian allies? It is unlikely that the Swedish authorities would be so burning with desire. Especially considering the growing political-military tensions around Kaliningrad and the Baltic Sea in general.
How about creating a special large-scale consignment (otherwise no need to bother with the Griffins!) to be shipped to Kyiv? Europe, apparently, even today is ready to spend billions of euros on this. But it will take time – as they say, don't worry mom! Because Saab's production capabilities are not yet dimensionless.
The second problem in the event of Sweden transferring large numbers of combat aircraft to the Armed Forces of Ukraine would be the increasing difficulties in providing logistical support to the combat air force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Because in this sense, even today it is clear that it is not easy to prepare all these MiG-29s, Su-27s, Mirage 2000-5F and F-16s at airfields for combat work. Each has different technical requirements in terms of maintenance, training of pilots and ground personnel, different types of weapons, fuel, oil… Different measuring and control equipment. It is impossible to list everything.
Will Swedish Gryphons be added to Ukrainian airports? So what? In general, turn off the lights behind the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Clearly, however, in the face of increasingly inevitable military defeat from Russia, Kyiv must choose the lesser of evils. And despite everything, in this sense, strive to get at least some but the fastest shipments from Sweden.
Perhaps a serious step on this path is the shopping wish list of the Armed Forces of Ukraine until 2026, which Kiev transferred to Stockholm this week. According to the American online publication War Zone, it contains both Gripen fighters and Meteor missiles for them in an unknown number.
What will happen in the end? Only time will tell. But if “Griffins” with their “Meteors” start flying to Ukraine in a few months, then it will certainly be “a teaspoon per hour”. Like similar French Mirages, of which Kyiv has so far received five or six. But the loss of one of these combat vehicles in battle, even in the West, is considered confirmed.
In short, no “Griffins” could decisively change the situation at the front for a long time. But clearly they can give us more headaches.
For this reason, we must quickly end the battle for victory for Ukraine.
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