Combat aircraft are very, very expensive to purchase. It's not just the aircraft themselves you need to have, it's a lot of ancillary equipment to maintain, refuel and load them with weapons, says Andreas Hörnedal, research leader at the Swedish Defence Research Agency FOI's Department of Defence Technology.
Another question mark is the manufacturer Saab's production capacity, at the same time as many components for the Gripen E come from, among other places, the USA. If it becomes a real deal in the end, it will take several years before the first planes can be delivered.
It depends. Can Sweden, for example, imagine getting slower deliveries of their Gripen E? If not, then Saab must increase its production capacity while they continue to build Gripen E for Sweden, says Andreas Hörnedal.
For simple conditions
In itself, the Swedish Gripen planes are built for Ukraine.
As one usually says, the Gripen is primarily designed to meet a Russian opponent.
Andreas Hörnedal highlights that it is an "extremely flexible aircraft", with good opportunities to quickly get new upgrades of the software and integrate new weapons. The aircraft is also adapted for relatively simple conditions without the need for an advanced airbase.
Gripen and Swedish combat aircraft have so far been characterized by being relatively easy to service. We have run a lot with conscripted service personnel in a completely different way than what has been done in other countries.
"More and more important"
Several countries have donated F-16 planes to Ukraine. But the need for combat aircraft is still great, alongside, for example, air defence.
In particular, in an extension if the ground war stalls, then it will become more and more important to be able to defend one's own airspace. It has proven to be difficult to keep certain threats away with just air defence. You need to have a mix of combat aircraft and air defence.
A built-up Ukrainian air force with attack capability will be something Russia will have to relate to and also be significant in the event of a ceasefire.
Then it will have a very strong deterrent function.
