Saab Advances with Gripen E Test Program

A prevalent contender for a number of ongoing fighter requirement is Saab’s new version of its flagship combat aircraft, the Gripen E/F, a development that is rapidly ticking off a number of milestones as it nears delivery to its launch customers.

Both Sweden and Brazil have committed to acquiring the type, having signed deals for 60 and 36, respectively, and deliveries are expected to begin for both nations by year-end.

Sweden is acquiring just the single-seat E-model version of the new fighter, while Brazil has committed to a mix of 28 Gripen E variants and 8 twin-seat F-model versions.

Most recently Gripen E has been proposed to both Switzerland and Finland for their respective fighter replacement competitions, while Saab (Chalet 323) is also eyeing expected upcoming tenders from Canada and India.

Opportunity in Croatia and Bulgaria

It failed to secure contracts with Croatia and Bulgaria, meanwhile, although Richard Smith, head of marketing and sales for Gripen at Saab, says that the company has not given up on these requirements yet, as both programs have been hit by challenges that suggest alternatives could ultimately be selected.

In 2018 Croatia selected second-hand Israeli Lockheed Martin F-16s that would have been modernized for its competition to replace its incumbent fleet of aging MiG-21s, but by January 2019 this had been canceled because Israel was not able to obtain authorization from the United States government to sell on the 12 aircraft to Zagreb.

The fleet of MiG-21s needs replacing, however, and this issue has further delayed what could have been a quick acquisition given that the aircraft would only have had to be upgraded and not built from scratch.

It was widely believed that Gripen was the second choice for the selection, so Saab remains positive that if discussions were opened a deal could be reached, noting that Croatia could look to replicate neighboring Hungary that is an operator of the C/D variant of Gripen.

“We’re not 100 percent sure where we are with Croatia, but they do need to replace their MiGs,” Smith explained, adding that the company is hoping a dialogue can begin to discuss the options available.

He said that Saab “let what happened happen,” claiming that Croatia looked at the initial cost of the acquisition when selecting the Israeli aircraft rather than the through-life costs, although it may be open to reassessing this approach now.

Smith added that the limited life left on the MiG-21 fleet is likely to drive Croatia towards making a decision quickly, although it is not yet clear if it will opt to open up the competition again, award a sole-source contract, or even look towards a joint buy with another country.  

Bulgaria, meanwhile, was approved by the government in January 2019 to enter discussions with the U.S. regarding a buy of eight F-16 Block 70 Viper variants to replace its MiG-29 fleet.

However, it is claimed that this offer is over the requested cost for the program, and therefore discussions may not come to fruition if the deal cannot be effectively ironed out.

“We’ve not given up on Bulgaria; we try not to give up on anything,” Smith explained. “I think we have a great fighter for Bulgaria in how they want to use it.

“We will see where the conversation with the U.S. for the Viper goes.”

Other requirements of interest include Botswana, which Smith says “still bubbles along,” while there is also ongoing dialogue with Colombia regarding the potential replacement of the IAI Kfir with Gripen.

He added that Colombia could look towards Brazil’s selection of Gripen: “I think this will be a nice match in the region,” he said.

Meeting Offset Requirements

For the numerous unsecured tenders and requirements that Saab is bidding for, production capabilities could be transferred to customers, the company says, although there is a clear limit to how much of this the company can offer.

Many nations now wish for offset from their defense acquisitions, so Saab has taken this onboard and is examining the different ways this can be delivered, albeit not necessarily to the extent that Brazil is receiving benefits, which is via a technology transfer.

To fulfill Brazil’s requirements to replace its F-5 and AMX fleets, Saab has partnered with Embraer, and of the 36 aircraft on order, 15 aircraft will be fully assembled in Brazil by Embraer at the Gaviao Peixoto facility, four of which are the F-model trainers, and the first of latter is expected to fly in 2022.

It is additionally expected that if Brazil opts to acquire 72 more Gripens as has been touted, most of these will be built in Brazil if ordered.

Out of 350 Brazilian engineers that are expected to be trained to support development of the aircraft, some 190 have been trained, most of them based at the Gripen Design and Development Network (GDDN) facility in São Paulo, the base for the Gripen program in Brazil.

Michael Franzen, head of the Gripen Brazil business unit at Saab, says that 107 are at GDDN at the moment, 90 of which are Brazilian and 17 are Swedish.

While all Swedish aircraft will be developed in Sweden and Brazil’s aircraft are being split between the two countries, if the ongoing export campaigns are successful, both production lines could be used to fulfill orders.  

Saab Hitting Milestones

Saab has begun running tests of the third Gripen E test aircraft ahead of a pending first flight, meanwhile, and test aircraft 39-10 is due to fly “quite soon,” it says.

This follows examples 39-8 and 39-9 that are already involved in the test campaign, and will additionally join the twin-seater 39-7 aircraft that has been converted into a more production representative standard from the demonstrator configuration it was previously developed into.

The aircraft being used in the testing are now operating at a standard more illustrative of the aircraft that are expected to be delivered to both Sweden and Brazil, Saab says.  

Furthermore, Saab entered serial production for the Gripen E at the beginning of 2019, and other recent milestones include Gripen E carrying the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, as well as a firing test of the Diehl short-range IRIS-T air-to-air weapon, both of which utilized test aircraft 39-8.

“We are flying this on a daily routine basis, and running updates fast on the test aircraft,” Eddy De La Motte, head of Saab’s Gripen E/F business unit, told media at the company’s Linköping, Sweden site in May.  

Gripen E is based on a software and mission system design that allows it to be easily updated, which is allowing the company to make modifications to the test aircraft as new technologies are ready to be introduced into the program.

This includes the tactical and electronic warfare systems that have been introduced into the testing, as well as the Leonardo ES-05 Raven AESA fire control radar.

De la Motte noted that Gripen E reached a force of 9g in recent weeks, and the company is ramping up the number of aircraft that will be available as well as the number of flights per aircraft this year.

A speed record in level flight for Gripen has also been achieved, he added, although the exact speed is undisclosed.

The ongoing joint validation program for the new fighter being conducted by Saab, the Swedish ministry of defense, and Sweden’s FMV Defence Material Administration is also ramping up, and De La Motte noted that it is expected that Brazil will join this effort at some point.

He also added that the production capacity across both Sweden and Brazil is 24 aircraft per year, but this could be ramped up accordingly if any export success called for it. 

Saab has explored a number of alternative derivatives of Gripen in recent years, including a carrier-based version dubbed Sea Gripen as well as an unmanned variant, and while the company says that the former is on hold for now until more tangible requirements emerge for it, the latter is still of interest and is being explored.

Using its pan-European Neuron unmanned combat air vehicle development experience, Saab is considering the potential development of unmanned capabilities to be used within a loyal wingman role, or as part of a future combat air system (FCAS) program, a number of which are under way across Europe at the moment.

Sweden has been touted as a potential partner for the UK’s Tempest FCAS program that was launched in July 2018, and Swedish defense minister Carl Anders Peter Hultqvist confirmed to media in Sweden in May that discussions had taken place at a governmental level between the two nations.

Furthermore, Saab’s president and CEO Håkan Buskhe confirmed that the company has a will to be involved, although he affirmed that it does not wish to merely play a consultancy role, and would be looking to be a technology partner in the program.

“We have an aim to work in the UK, and it’s no secret that the Swedish government wants to be involved in a future fighter program,” he said.

One area in which Sweden and Saab could contribute is via the unmanned element of FCAS, which is largely considered to be a key requirement of any combat aircraft development going forward, including a loyal wingman concept, which the company is exploring.

“Loyal wingman is an extremely important system we believe,” Buskhe noted.

While the company’s previously touted unmanned Gripen concept may not be the most optimal option for this role due to the cost—loyal wingman is envisaged to be a low-cost UAV deployed alongside a fighter to trick air defense systems—Buskhe noted that the operation of a manned and unmanned Gripen alongside one another could pay off in terms of the cost savings associated with operating one type of aircraft.