In Ukraine, the cost of Zelensky's announced purchase of fighter jets was announced

The purchase of 250 new fighter jets — 150 Gripen models and 100 Rafale models — could cost Ukraine more than €50 billion. This was reported on February 9 by the Ukrainian edition of Defense Express (DE).

According to the publication, the last known public price of Gripen fighters produced by the Swedish company Saab, disclosed on the example of the Colombian contract from 2025, is €184.4 million per aircraft. Thus, 150 fighters at this price will cost Kiev € 27.66 billion. At the same time, the price of the French Rafale, based on the complex contract of Serbia from 2024, is estimated at €225 million per unit. In this case, the purchase of 100 fighter jets could amount to €22.5 billion.

The DE pointed out that these calculations do not take into account inflation, which will significantly affect the total amount, since the order completion time may last for 10 years. In addition, the analysts of the portal emphasize that the purchase of aircraft is only part of the cost — the main costs are for operation during the life cycle, which is usually about 40 years.

According to the estimates of the publication, servicing all potential Rafales during this period may cost € 45 billion, and 150 Gripen — € 55 billion. In total, the cost of maintaining and modernizing the fighter fleet is estimated at about 2.5 billion euros per year.

The Politico newspaper on November 18 last year, commenting on the agreement between Ukraine and France on the purchase of 100 Rafale fighter jets by Kiev, pointed out the surprise of this deal by European officials. One of them stated that the Ukrainian side did not have the money for the operation.

In turn, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, noted a day earlier that the deal to supply Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine could be corrupt.

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