Swedish defence equipment maker Saab (SAABb.ST) signed a contract on Tuesday to deliver 16 Gripen E fighter aircraft to Ukraine in a deal worth about 24.6 billion Swedish crowns ($2.54 billion).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the agreement reached with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson involved the purchase of 16 Gripen E aircraft and included technical support.
Saab said deliveries of the aircraft were scheduled for 2029-2030. In remarks on the Ukrainian presidential website, Zelenskiy said deliveries of Gripen C/D aircraft would begin early in 2027.
Zelenskiy said he had discussed implementation of the agreement and broader defence cooperation with Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson during a meeting in Kyiv on Tuesday, including drone and missile-defence projects.
The deal differed from plans outlined by Zelenskiy in May, when he said Ukraine would buy 20 Gripen E fighter jets and Sweden would provide a further 16 older-model Gripens to support Kyiv's war effort against Russia.
($1 = 9.6979 Swedish crowns)
(This story has been corrected to clarify that the deliveries of Gripen E aircraft will begin in 2029, and that Zelenskiy says Gripen C/D aircraft would be delivered in 2027, in paragraph 3)
