Hours after the Ukrainian President signed a bilateral security cooperation agreement with the Portuguese Prime Minister, in which the government committed to providing new aid worth 26 million euros, Sweden announced a military aid package worth 1.16 billion euros. Of particular note is the dispatch of two surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, which will give greater operational capability to the F-16s.
The sixteenth Swedish military aid package – the largest to date – includes two Swedish-made Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, equipped with an advanced radar system. This aircraft can detect and monitor objects up to 400 kilometers away, from fighter jets to helicopters, and from missiles. Cruise to sea targets.
Announcing the new aid package, Swedish Defense Minister Pall Jonsson said the ASC 890s would provide Ukraine with a “new capability against air and sea targets” and would act as a “force multiplier with the introduction of the F-16s.” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, quoted by the Associated Press, noted that the two devices are the only ones of their kind that Sweden possesses. “So, we also took a deliberate, calculated risk. I think that’s an incredibly powerful contribution.”
In an interview a month ago on the Ukrainian Freedom TV channel, the head of the Ukrainian Pilots Association Gennady Khazan highlighted the fact that American-made aircraft gain “full operability only at the moment when a reconnaissance aircraft equipped with a long-range radar is on the ground.” air.”
The Swedish government was preparing to send JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft – fourth generation like the F-16 – but at the request of the Allies this plan was suspended. The justification is that two models should not be presented simultaneously. However, Johnson does not rule out future deliveries of the Gripen, of which he has 90 units available. In 2022, the British research institute Royal United Services Intitute advised the Gripen “from afar” regarding other Western fighters.
The Swedish assistance package includes all PBV 302 armored personnel carriers and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, which will serve the F-16s. Stockholm imposes no restrictions on the use of weapons on Russian soil, the latest debate between the allies. Through Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a visit to Moldova, the United States reiterated that it “does not encourage or condone attacks outside Ukraine,” but the French President and the Finnish Foreign Minister added their voices to that of the NATO Secretary General. Which defends Kiev’s right to attack military targets on Russian territory with Western weapons.
“If we say… [aos ucranianos] Emmanuel Macron said: “Those who do not have the right to reach the point from which the missiles are launched, we are in fact telling them that we are handing over weapons, but they cannot defend themselves.” The British, Dutch or Poles have already stated that the Ukrainians have the right to attack Russian territory, as long as they are military targets.
