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PARIS and LINKOPING, Sweden --- The next-generation variant of Sweden’s Gripen fighter is due to make its maiden flight sometime during the next month, between the first anniversary of its official roll-out on May 18 and the June 19 opening of the Paris Air Show. Whenever it happens, this flight will mark the appearance of a fighter that Saab defines as fifth-generation, but that it says was developed for less than 2 billion euros – just about half the $4 billion cost of the Lockheed Martin F-35’s Block 4 software. Whether or not that figure remains valid – and it...

Sweden will equip its future fleet of Gripen E fighters with an extended-range version of the Saab/Diehl Defence-produced RBS15 anti-ship missile, under a project worth SKr3.2 billion ($358 million). Announced on 31 March, the deal will deliver weapons with “greatly improved capabilities to engage any target, in all [weather] conditions”, says Saab chief executive Håkan Buskhe. Equipped with an upgraded seeker, the RBS15F ER will have a reduced launch weight and increased range compared with earlier versions of the maritime- and land-attack missile. The extended-range design will be among a variety of weapon types to be carried by the Gripen...

Last year the Swedish defense company SAAB made its final delivery of 96 Gripen planes ordered by the Swedish government. Now, despite having thousands of flying hours and many years left, the fighter jets are destined for the scrapheap. The Swedish government is buying even newer Gripen planes. Gripen C/D is an advanced fighter jet with attack and surveillance capabilities, which unlike its Gripen predecessors is also compatible with NATO standards and thus more easily exportable. SAAB has sold or leased the plane not only to the Swedish government but to South Africa, Hungary, Thailand, the Czech Republic and even...

Sweden has built some fascinating aircraft over the years, but the SAAB 37 Viggen has to be one of the most interesting. The jet was unique—its delta-canard configuration was cutting-edge, and its ability to operate in austere conditions made it quite independent compared to most other western fighters of the era. The Saab's unique engine choice not only resulted in its stout appearance, and also gave it unique performance characteristics—especially when it came to short field operations. In the early 1960s while turbojets still filled the sky SAAB designers pursued a turbofan engine for their new multi-role fighter-attack-reconnaissance-interceptor. The type...

The contest to supply the Indian Air Force (IAF) a single-engine, medium fighter is currently playing out as a two-horse race. US giant, Lockheed Martin, is the Goliath looking to slay the David that is Swedish firm, Saab. Lockheed Martin, which has offered to shift its F-16 production line to India, is the world's biggest defence firm, with $46.1 billion in sales last year and an order backlog of almost $100 billion. Saab, which has offered its latest fighter, the Gripen E, appears a relative minnow, with $3 billion in sales last year, and an order book of $12.9 billion....

(Published in Swedish only; unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com) By Tomas Augustsson STOCKHOLM --- A controversy has broken out among defense commentators in Sweden as to whether it makes sense to break up a large part of the current Swedish Gripen fleet to recover parts that can be used in the production of the new Gripen-E fighter, as ordered by the defence ministry and parliament. Sweden plans to produce a total of 60 new Gripen-Es at a cost of SEK 36 billion ($4.2 billion) to replace the 96 Gripen C/D currently operated by the Swedish Air Force. However, many are protesting...

After photos leaked of Northrop Grumman and BAE System’s new T-X trainer offering, Boeing and Saab revealed their own T-X sneak peak this week. A few shadowy glimpses of the trainer appeared over four videos posted on Boeing’s new T-X website over the weekend. The clean sheet design has two engine inlets, a high mounted wing and a conventional, vertical tail. That design marks a departure from Boeing’s original V-tail concept the company put forth before partnering with Saab. The new aircraft’s design is also unique from the Boeing T-45 Goshawk used by the US Navy. Boeing’s T-X bid not...

The German Navy (Marine) has authorized on 3 June 2016 the use of the surface-to-surface Saab RBS-15 Mk3 missiles aboard the Braunschweig class (K-130) corvette. This type of missiles will give the Marine the capability to engage land targets from the sea. German Navy Braunschweig class corvettes (K130) The RBS-15 Mk3 was selected in 2004 through an international tender; with the other two contenders being Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile and Boeing’s Harpoon Block II missiles. However, following technical delays and two failed fire-tests in 2013, the missiles were successfully fire-tested in 2015. The German Navy is the second one, after...

Saab has begun work to modify a pair of Bombardier Global 6000 business jets to its “swing-role” GlobalEye configuration for lead customer the United Arab Emirates. “We are building as we speak,” Saab chief executive Håkan Buskhe told journalists during a 17 May briefing in Stockholm. “It’s full speed ahead in our workshop.” The Swedish company signed a $1.27 billion deal with the UAE at the Dubai air show in November, with the heavily adapted Global 6000s to be capable of conducting airborne early warning and control (AEW&C), maritime and land surveillance and electronic intelligence duties. Saab Speaking during a...

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish aircraft maker Saab has unveiled the latest version of its Gripen fighter jet. About 500 people, including Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist and Brazilian air force commander Nivaldo Luiz Rossato, watched the rollout of the new Gripen E on Wednesday in Linkoping, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) southeast of Stockholm. The E fighter is slightly bigger than previous versions, has a stronger engine and updated radar systems. It has been in development for about 10 years. The first test flight is expected later this year. Brazil has ordered 36 Gripen fighters for delivery between 2019 and...

A new filming technique has captured the incredible abilities of fighter jets in stunning detail. The footage, from California-based Blue Sky Aerial, shows Gripen fighter jets flying over Sweden. In what looks like a computer animation, the multirole fighters manoeuvre into rolls and send out a series of flares at speeds of 345mph. The video was captured using BlueSky's GSS 520 5 axis system, which can work at speeds of up to 300 knots per hour. The cameraman was riding in the back of a Saab 105 and filming the Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet cruising over the icy...

Saab will roll out the first Gripen E version at Linkoping, Sweden on May 18, said Richard Smith, the company’s head of marketing and sales for the combat aircraft. In a bullish briefing at the Singapore Airshow last week, Smith said that thanks to the 60 new-build E/F jets for Sweden, plus the Brazilian Gripen order and other surveillance and submarine programs, the Swedish company’s backlog was at an all-time high of $13.5 billion. The Gripen thus has a guaranteed long-term future, and the sales goal was “at least 300 more,” Smith said. Smith described the “huge technical transfer program”...

Behold of the newest invention from Sweden. It doesn’t come in flat cardboard box, but in a fancy composite materials finishing on the back of a Canadian designed business jet. The Saab/Bombardier GlobalEye 6000 is about to make stealth technology, like of the Lockheed Martin F-35 and the Irkut T-50, obsolete. Or at least that is what Micael Johansson, head of Saab’s business area Electronic Defence Systems, is telling these days. The GlobalEye will automatically detect and track air and surface targets over a huge area, both on land, at sea and in the air. ‘Stealthy’ aircraft Ground surveillance of...

Saab is trying to find customers in Asia. A recent report indicated that the Swedish defense firm is trying to find partners in Asia for the Sea Gripen, a carrier-launched version of its much-lauded, relatively inexpensive Generation 4.5 fighter. The problem is that the market for fighter aircraft is tight, because there are several good competitors and not enough aircraft carriers to go around. Thus have culminated a pair of long-standing trends in naval and aviation acquisition: good aircraft are chasing decks that simply don’t exist. To see how we got here, it’s useful to trace a bit of the...

AESA radars have changed aerial combat, offering a quantum leap in range, resolution, fast scanning capabilities, stealthiness and reliability among many other advantages. But, an AESA’s somewhat narrow field of view can still be an issue. SAAB has come up with a ingenious solution to this problem—spin an angled AESA radar array around on a platter. This system, which is called a repositioner, is ingenious as it allows the Gripen NG’s Raven ES-05 radar to gain another 40 degrees of scanning ability to either side of the aircraft’s nose. This is in addition to the 60 degrees AESA radar sets...

While all the talk in the run-up to the Dubai air show was about the prospects for large commercial orders being announced, it was the United Arab Emirates air force that opened sales, with a surprise, $1.27 billion contract with Saab for advanced surveillance aircraft. Announced during a press briefing on 9 November, the agreement – which was reached on the first day of the show – covers the provision of two Bombardier Global 6000 business jets, following their extensive modification by the Swedish company. “I am extremely happy to announce the first deal that has been signed,” Maj Gen...

Saab has unveiled what it claims is the world's most advanced stealth submarine. The A26 sub is 207 feet long, and features a 'ghost mode' to make it virtually undetectable when underwater. It also features a unique pod that allows special forces divers to enter and exit the sub while it is underwater. The firm has already signed a $1 billion deal to build two of the new submarines for the Swedish Navy. 'Extreme stealth is at the heart of the Kockums A26 submarine,' the firm said. 'Sweden is unleashing its GHOST (Genuine HOlistic STealth) technology, thus making the Kockums...

Peter Hultqvist, Sweden’s defense minister since last October, maintains a hectic schedule trying to supply his pared-down armed forces with enough equipment, manpower, and skills to mount a credible defense against a certain neighbor across the Baltic Sea. And earlier this month, the affable minister traveled to India on a different mission: promoting Sweden’s JAS Gripen fighter jet to the Indian government, which had seemed more keen on France’s Rafele as it looks to boost its air force. “What’s happening with regards to a Sweden-India fighter jet deal right now is that there are talks,” explains Sam Perlo-Freeman, head of...

Next year, a Gripen fighter will emerge from the assembly line at Saab’s Linköping site in the south of Sweden, following more than 200 others before it. But in contrast to its forebears, this aircraft will embody a raft of new features, which the company believes will ensure the type’s continued production towards – and perhaps even into – the 2030s. Currently in the early stages of assembly, aircraft 39-8 is the first of three prototypes to be manufactured in support of the Gripen ­E/NG programme, including one for static testing. While it will closely resemble the ­single-­engined design first...

LINKOPING, Sweden, April 27 (Reuters) - Swedish defence company Saab said on Monday there was growing interest for its Gripen fighter jet from countries spread across Russia's European flank, amid rising tensions rise over Ukraine. Czech Republic and Hungary already operate 14 Gripens each under leases, and a senior Saab executive said he was open to more such deals as others with limited budgets seek more modern air power. "Even if they don't expect a Russian intervention, there are more tensions and air policing becomes necessary, so if you only have a few MiG-21s you would like to have a...