Wallenberg Close to Selling 150 Gripen Jets to Ukraine

Defense conglomerate Saab, where the Wallenberg family is the main owner, is approaching what may become one of the company’s largest deals to date. According to company management, a possible agreement with Ukraine for the purchase of up to 150 JAS Gripen fighter jets could become a reality within a relatively short time.

This update was given in an interview on Sveriges Television’s program ‘Alex möter’, hosted by business reporter Alexander Norén, where Saab CEO Micael Johansson shared the latest status on negotiations regarding deliveries of fighter aircraft to Ukraine. According to him, the deal is now very close to being finalized.

– This normally takes a few months, but I hope it will happen this year, Johansson said.

Discussions about a major deal for up to 150 JAS Gripen jets gained momentum when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Linköping in October.

During that visit, Zelensky met with, among others, Saab representative Marcus Wallenberg, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, and Defense Minister Pål Jonson.

At the meeting, a letter of intent was signed that allows for Ukraine to potentially purchase a large number of Gripen jets in the future. A key issue in the process has been how the deal will be financed.

Present at Saab’s facility were Marcus Wallenberg and the government. Photo: Per Kustvik /Saab

EU Takes the Risk

The initial plan was to use frozen Russian assets in the EU, but that idea stalled among member states due to concerns about potential future consequences.

The fact that the deal now appears close to completion may be tied to the European Union recently securing a substantial loan package for Ukraine, totaling nearly 1 trillion SEK.

The loan is essentially guaranteed by EU taxpayers and is to be repaid by Ukraine, but there remains continuing uncertainty regarding Ukraine’s ability and timeline to repay, especially considering that the EU currently provides a significant portion of the country’s economic support.

No exact price tag for the potential deal has been made public yet. Saab’s CEO also declined to specify a per-aircraft price. For comparison, a previous deal with Colombia involving the sale of 17 Gripen jets in November 2025 amounted to approximately 34 billion SEK.