Summary and Key Points: When something breaks on a Ukrainian F-16, Ukrainians do not fix it. An American team removes the faulty component; it leaves the country; a replacement eventually arrives, and an American contractor installs that too. “We are not effectively allowed to do much at all with the airplane,” said the deputy director of one of Ukraine’s leading defense firms at the Kielce arms show this week. The Swedish approach to the Gripen is the opposite. “They are training us as to what to do when a major subsystem has a fault. They show us how to remove it, how to repair it, and how to replace it.” Ukraine currently operates 2 Western fighter types, the F-16 and the Mirage 2000, with Swedish JAS-39C/Ds arriving next year and Rafales and new-build Gripen E/Fs on order. Its own defense industry has reached a consensus about which of them it wants.
Why the JAS 39 Gripen Is the Fighter for Ukraine
As of today, the Ukrainian Air Force (PSU) operates two Western, 4th-generation fighter aircraft.
These are the US-made F-16 and the French Dassault Mirage 2000.
Both platforms are used models donated to Ukraine, with Belgium set to provide another seven F-16s by the end of 2026.
These will be followed by used JAS-39C/D models from Sweden, due to arrive next year, plus orders for new-build aircraft of the latest-model JAS-39E/F and for the fighter that has replaced the Mirage 2000: the twin-engine Dassault Rafale. Currently, Ukraine has no plans to receive any new-build US fighters.
Dassault Mirage 2000-5. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
In the future, the Rafale will likely be the only two-engine model in Ukrainian service.
This will be somewhat of a change for the Ukrainian service, as currently all its combat aircraft, Mikoyan MiG-29, Sukhoi Su-24, Su-25, and Su-27, are twin-engine aircraft.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that although the JAS-39E delivery to the PSU is projected for 2029-2030, Ukrainian pilots are already training on the more advanced JAS-39E.
The JAS-39C/Ds will enter service next year and will also serve as training vehicles for the E/F versions to follow.
In the world of tactical fighter aircraft, there is more than one constituency that has a view of which model is the ideal solution for any given nation’s national security needs.
JAS 39 Gripen Fighter. Image Created VIA Ideogram.
Air forces typically want the most sophisticated aircraft that carries the most weaponry, can reach the farthest, and has the highest chance of surviving the mission while also causing the most damage to the enemy’s forces.
In the case of Ukraine, there has been a long-running discussion about what the country’s future fighter force should look like.
There is broad agreement that it should be something Western, as continuing to operate any aircraft made in Russia would be impossible.
A Preference for the JAS 39 Gripen
However, what makes the difference in Ukraine is that criteria are not normally weighted as heavily as they are in other countries when making procurement decisions.
The combination of these factors has created a consensus among the Ukrainian defense firms here at MSPO that, all factors considered, the Gripen is the more practical option because of its supportability and the level at which it can be maintained.
JAS 39 Gripen E. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
One of the points Ukraine’s industry homed in on this week is that the Gripen is the only Western fighter aircraft designed from the rivets up to operate off highway airstrips.
Dispersing aircraft from airbases, since those bases become first-order targets in a time of war, also means the aircraft must be simpler to maintain, and its sortie rate ends up being higher than that of most of its contemporaries.
“The Gripen is a simpler design than the F-16, the way it is assembled, the way it operates – it is a great advantage for us here in industry who have to support these aircraft,” said the deputy director of one of Ukraine’s leading defense firms. “But that comparatively easier maintenance regime is only part of the picture.”
“There is just as much of, or perhaps an even greater, advantage in how the company behind the aircraft works with Ukraine industry,” he continued. “The Swedes are doing as much as possible and are moving as fast as possible to maximize our autonomy in supporting the aircraft.
They are training us as to what to do when a major subsystem has a fault. They show us how to remove it, how to repair it, and how to replace it.”
“It is worlds away from how we have to work with the F-16,” he explained. “When something is wrong, the US team removes the defective component, and it gets shipped out of the country and then eventually a new replacement arrives – and that replacement is also installed by the US contractor. We are not effectively allowed to do much at all with the airplane.”
F-16 Fighter Lakeland Florida 19FortyFive.com Image. Taken on 4/19/2026.
An Eye Towards Production
The Ukrainian team that supports the Gripen, he stated, “is soon to be going back to Sweden again for another round of training. The sole purpose of that exercise is to bring their qualifications to work on the Gripen up to the level of being nearly self-reliant once the JAS-39C/Ds arrive next year.”
This is an important element in Ukraine’s decision on how its future air force will be organized, he and others emphasized. “The ease of maintenance and the autonomy are one aspect.
But another is that with the Gripen you can use anyone’s weapons: European, US, Israeli, Brazilian. Most, if not all, of these weapon systems are already certified for the aircraft.”
F-16. Image Credit: 19FortyFive.com Taken 4/19/2026.
F-16. Image Credit: 19FortyFive.com Taken on 4/19/2026.
At the end of the process, Ukraine wants to do more than maintain these aircraft.
The contracts to supply Ukraine with Western combat aircraft should include a longer-term objective of local production and maintenance within the country.
This was the comment made in August 2026 by Colonel Oleksandr Diakiv, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force’s aviation forces.
“As for localizing production, the major manufacturers [Sweden and France] that are ready to supply us with aircraft are also ready to localize production in Ukraine. They are ready to help us,” Diakiv said.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Korea Fellow at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
