A major new fighter jet deal announced on 28 May will see 36 Swedish Gripen aircraft delivered to Ukraine, with over 30% of each aircraft manufactured in the UK and at least 50 British companies involved in the programme.
The deal, brokered by Sweden and welcomed by the UK government, will see 16 Gripen aircraft urgently gifted to Ukraine, with a further 20 purchased by Ukraine through an EU support loan. The aircraft will give Ukrainian forces a modern, agile multirole air combat platform interoperable with NATO allies.
UK Industrial Involvement
The Gripen is a three-nation collaboration between the UK, Sweden and the United States, with British companies supplying critical components including the radar and landing gear. The scale of UK industrial participation is significant: companies from Saab UK in Fareham to Leonardo UK in Edinburgh are among those set to benefit, with the deal supporting more than 5,000 UK jobs.
Saab is also investing £100 million in its Fareham facility in the UK, underlining a long-term commitment to British manufacturing as part of the Gripen programme. BAE Systems has a parallel presence in Sweden through BAE Bofors and BAE Hagglunds, reinforcing the depth of the bilateral industrial relationship.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP described the deal as “a show of confidence in our world-leading UK defence industry, supporting thousands of good British jobs here at home.”
Strategic Context
The announcement sits within a broader pattern of UK defence industrial engagement that is accelerating on multiple fronts. Combined UK and Swedish military support to Ukraine since February 2022 now stands at £11.4 billion. The UK is also providing 120,000 drones to Ukraine this year alone, alongside training, expertise and equipment across a wide range of capability areas.
For the defence supply chain, the Gripen deal is a live example of how export-linked programmes can generate sustained domestic industrial activity, with complex, high-value components required across avionics, structures, landing systems and integration.
Supply Chain Relevance
With at least 50 British companies already identified for involvement and production requirements set to scale, the Gripen programme represents near-term commercial opportunity across aerospace manufacturing, electronic systems, precision engineering and defence supply chain support services.
For businesses with relevant capability in these areas, the programme’s growth trajectory, combined with the UK-Sweden industrial partnership and ongoing NATO demand signals, makes this one of the more active pipeline opportunities in the current defence market.
Image: © MOD Crown Copyright
